T

he victory of president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in the July 9 election has sewn controversy in the ranks of the United Development Party (PPP), which initially supported rival ticket Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa.

Following a previous statement by PPP deputy chairman Suharso Monoarfa for a possible congress ahead of schedule to topple chairman Suryadharma Ali, who was among the initial supporters of Prabowo, senior politician and former vice president Hamzah Haz supported the plan as it opened up a way of joining Jokowi'€™s administration.

'€œI still hope [the PPP will join the PDI-P-led coalition] especially as it won the election. I think it is reasonable for the PPP to re-examine [its decisions],'€ Hamzah said on the sidelines of an Idul Fitri gathering at the official residence of PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri recently.

Hamzah, a former vice president to Megawati, said he had encouraged the PPP to join the PDI-P-led ticket from the very beginning instead of the rival Gerindra Party-led coalition.

He regretted the PPP'€™s official decision to back Prabowo, the former commander of the Army'€™s Special Forces (Kopassus), and his running mate Hatta, a former coordinating economic minister, although an internal assessment conducted by the PPP had revealed that Jokowi was likely to win the election.

Unlike Hamzah'€™s preference for the PPP to back Jokowi, PPP politician and Public Housing Minister Djan Fariz, who also attended the Idul Fitri gathering at Megawati'€™s house, reiterated the party'€™s decision to join Prabowo'€™s camp.

'€œThe Merah-Putih Coalition is founded upon agreement and love. You cannot easily break love,'€ Djan said, referring to the coalition that nominated Prabowo-Hatta, and highlighting that his presence at Megawati'€™s was personal in nature and had nothing to do with the PPP'€™s political stance in the presidential election.

Before the PPP formally endorsed Prabowo-Hatta, it suffered an internal rift due to a faction in the party that lambasted Suryadharma'€™s appearance at a Gerindra rally at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, prior to the legislative election last April.

The infighting worsened as Suryadharma, without the official consent of his party, announced his support for Gerindra as well as Prabowo'€™s presidential ticket, which led to mounting calls to immediately unseat him from the chairmanship.

PDI-P secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that although politicians from several parties, including the PPP, had expressed an interest in joining the PDI-P'€™s coalition; none had officially met PDI-P representatives to discuss the matter.