TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Backroom dealings heat up

Losers’ paradise: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also Democratic Party chairman (at the podium) addresses a media conference at his residence in Cikeas, West Java on Tuesday after a consolidation with representatives of the Red-and-White Coalition of parties that supported the losing Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa ticket

Bagus BT Saragih and Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, September 3, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Backroom dealings heat up

L

span class="inline inline-center">Losers'€™ paradise: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also Democratic Party chairman (at the podium) addresses a media conference at his residence in Cikeas, West Java on Tuesday after a consolidation with representatives of the Red-and-White Coalition of parties that supported the losing Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa ticket. Four of the six parties were represented by only lower-rank functionaries, with Prabowo being conspicuously absent. Presidential Office/Abror Rizki

The Red-and-White Coalition of parties that supported the losing presidential ticket of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa may have little interest in keeping its unity intact.

Several political elites from the coaltion were even found recently to have been trying to seal backroom deals with president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s camp.

The coalition'€™s meeting on Tuesday with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, founder of the Democratic Party, attended by second-rate representatives.

Leaders of the Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) sent mere envoys to a consolidation meeting hosted by the President at his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java.

Citing the reason that he was on '€œa foreign trip'€, Gerindra founder Prabowo Subianto sent his close confidant Fadli Zon in his stead.

Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie was represented by country singer and legislator Tantowi Yahya and party secretary-general Idrus Marham. The PKS was represented by the controversial deputy secretary-general Fahri Hamzah and former party president Hidayat Nur Wahid.

Another coalition member, the PPP, was represented by its secretary-general Romahurmuzy.

PPP senior politician Lukman Hakim Saifudin also fueled speculation about the party'€™s position, following his announcement later on tuesday that he would not take his seat in the House of Representatives because he wanted to concentrate on being religious affairs minister until October.

Lukman has just held the position since June, but he has won the hearts of many people for his open-minded stance on several sensitive issues.

He was rumored to have been asked by Jokowi to stay in the Cabinet should the PPP finally agree to jump ship.

After the meeting, the Red-and-White Coalition emphasized its commitment to remaining outside the government to play the role of a '€œbalancing mechanism'€.

'€œThis morning'€™s silaturahim [gathering] was constructive. We intend and are determined to be part of the national development to mature our democracy life,'€ Yudhoyono said.

National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa, whose daughter was married to the President'€™s son, had actually met with Jokowi the night before the Cikeas meeting.

The revelation of Jokowi'€™s secret meeting with Hatta has shed light on a political development that could end up with PAN '€œbetraying'€ other parties that endorsed Hatta'€™s vice-presidential bid, but at the same time it renewed Jokowi'€™s hope of winning the support of a majority of legislators.

Hatta described his meeting with the president-elect as a courtesy call to '€œmy good friend Jokowi'€.

'€œI also congratulated him [for his election]. We can be different [politically], but we don'€™t [have to] stop saying hello to each other. What'€™s wrong with me having silaturahim with Jokowi after the [presidential] competition?'€ Hatta asked.

Hatta'€™s meeting with Jokowi was held secretly at the house of NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh in South Jakarta. NasDem was one of the supporters of the Jokowi-Kalla presidential ticket.

Hatta'€™s meeting with Jokowi, regardless the topics they discussed, must have had some political intentions, said Pol-Tracking Institute executive director Hanta Yuda.

Hanta added that Hatta could have utilized his meeting with Jokowi as '€œan opening step'€ because the chance of PAN joining the Jokowi-Kalla camp '€œis very big, but needs time.'€

Hatta could also have shared his economic expertise and experience as former coordinating economic minister when he approached Jokowi, Hanta added.

Hanta said it would be politically more beneficial for PAN and the PPP to be inside the Jokowi-Kalla camp. '€œIf PAN stays in the Red-and-White Coalition, it would not have significant political leverage because the parties'€™ legislators are outnumbered by the Golkar Party and the Gerindra Party,'€ he said.

PAN'€™s and the PPP'€™s moves, however, could have turned Golkar, which is the party in the Red-and-White Coalition that won the largest number of legislative seats, restive.

'€œGolkar'€™s dominance in the coalition could turn useless because if PAN and the PPP jump ship, the coalition would no longer constitute the majority of lawmakers,'€ he said.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.