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Dems in last-ditch bid to woo a coalition partner

Although its chances of spearheading a presidential coalition narrow by the day, the ruling Democratic Party appears to have bought into the notion that it’s never over until it’s over

Ina Parlina and Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, May 16, 2014

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Dems in last-ditch bid to woo a coalition partner

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lthough its chances of spearheading a presidential coalition narrow by the day, the ruling Democratic Party appears to have bought into the notion that it'€™s never over until it'€™s over.

With less than six days until the May 20 deadline to register a presidential ticket, the party is pulling out all the stops to prevent its biggest ally in the current ruling coalition, the Golkar Party, from formally joining an alliance led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Democratic Party honorary council chief Amir Syamsuddin, who is also the law and human rights minister, said on Wednesday that options to team up with Golkar remained on the table, pending the results of the Democratic convention.

After several delays, the party'€™s chief patron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is slated to announce the winner of the convention on Friday.

As a sweetener to lure Golkar, Amir said his party would consider supporting Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, a senior Golkar politician, as a presidential candidate.

Amir cited a recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) that found Hamengkubuwono could contend in a presidential race with PDI-P hopeful Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra Party.

'€œHamengkubowono'€™s electability stood at 15 percent [when paired with Democratic Party convention participant Gita Wirjawan]. The survey also suggested that 41 percent of voters were still undecided. I believe these findings should be considered,'€ Amir said.

'€œThere is no harm in floating such an idea as it aimed at avoiding having only two tickets competing in the presidential election. Having only two choices is like a sudden-death [soccer] match.'€

Meanwhile, Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie met Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, but refused to disclose the result of the meeting.

Aburizal also visited the home of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday.

After the meeting with Megawati, Aburizal said Golkar had edged closer toward PDI-P, but the final decision on a coalition would have to be made during the party'€™s national meeting on May 17 and 18.

On Tuesday, Aburizal made a public appearance with Jokowi to declare his support for the Jakarta governor.

With most parties having either joined the PDI-P-led coalition or the Gerindra Party alliance, the Democrats and the Hanura Party are the only major parties still undecided.

Having garnered 11.81 percent of the popular vote in the April 9 legislative election, the Democrats are far short of the 25 percent threshold required to nominate a presidential candidate. Hanura only won 5.26 percent of the vote.

Amir said the party had opened its doors to other parties in its coalition-building effort. '€œIf one or two other parties support us to nominate him [Hamengkubuwono], we will immediately open up communications.'€

Unofficial coalition pledges from Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) remain fluid.

After edging closer to Gerindra, PKS officials have recently expressed disappointment over Prabowo'€™s plan to name National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa as his running mate.

PAN and the United Development Party (PPP) have officially joined with Gerindra, while the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) have sided with PDI-P.

The Democratic Party is also reportedly holding out hope to join the PDI-P coalition.

Political analyst at the Political Communication (Polcomm) Institute Heri Budianto recently said PDI-P and Gerindra had yet to officially announce their vice presidential candidates because they were still waiting for developments in Golkar and the Democrats.

'€œAnything is possible in the next couple of days. I think the Democratic Party has also proposed its own vice presidential candidate to Prabowo from the winner of the convention,'€ he said.

'€œThe negotiations are still ongoing.'€

In light of the intense last-minute dealings among big parties, the PDI-P has postponed its announcement of Jokowi'€™s running mate.

'€œWe still have time to think about the vice presidential pick before the registration deadline of May 20,'€ said PDI-P secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo.

Margareth Aritonang also contributed to the story

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