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SBY urged to drop plan
Several local executives of the ruling Democratic Party have advised chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to drop a proposal to set up a so-called âcentral axisâ as a strategy to field the partyâs own presidential nominee
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everal local executives of the ruling Democratic Party have advised chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to drop a proposal to set up a so-called 'central axis' as a strategy to field the party's own presidential nominee.
The proposal received mixed responses from Democrat executives from across the country who were gathered at Yudhoyono's residence in Cikeas, West Java, on Saturday afternoon. The President, who is barred by the Constitution from seeking election for a third time, was seeking input from party members about what the party should do following the legislative poll.
'Each provincial executive presented an evaluation of the party's legislative-election performance in their respective province as well as delivering their ideas on what the party should do ahead of the presidential election,' executive chairman Syariefuddin Hasan told reporters after the meeting.
'When it comes to a coalition for the presidential race, there were mixed responses with no dominant support for any particular move. Some said we should go with our own candidate, some suggested that we should join in a coalition to support other parties' presidential candidates. Some regional executives even said that we should be ready to serve in opposition,' the cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister added.
Syariefuddin acknowledged that some of the party's provincial executives had proposed that the Democratic Party join the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) coalition and support presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
'Our chairman [Yudhoyono] received all of the input positively. Let's see what happens next,' Syariefuddin said. 'Every opportunity for political cooperation is being examined. We are seeking to communicate with all political figures including [PDI-P chairwoman] Megawati Soekarnoputri.'
Megawati and Yudhoyono have a bitter relationship dating back to 2004 when the latter was a minister in Megawati's Cabinet. It has reportedly been a significant factor hindering possible political cooperation between the PDI-P and the Democratic Party.
Deputy chairman Max Sopacua denied the responses from some of the regional executives were a setback for the Democrats' plan to form their own coalition.
'What setback? We hadn't made any decision on the presidential election in the first place,' he said, implying that the idea of the party forming its own coalition ahead of the July 9 presidential race had not been an official decision.
Despite the party's slump in the April 9 legislative election, which left the Democratic Party in fourth position with around 10 percent of the vote, as opposed to the 20 percent it garnered in 2009, there have been suggestions that the party form and lead a coalition with other middle-ranking parties to reach an accumulative popular vote of 25 percent, which is required in order to nominate a presidential candidate.
Analysts have said that Yudhoyono's move to form an axis could serve as a blow to the Golkar Party's Aburizal Bakrie and the Gerindra Party's Prabowo Subianto, who are still seeking support from other middle-sized parties to be able to join the presidential race.
