T

he Democratic Party is considering ending its alliance with the opposition Red-and-White Coalition in response to the Golkar Party'€™s recent decision to withdraw its support for the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the direct election of local leaders.

Bowing to public pressure following the decision of his party'€™s lawmakers to walk out of a crucial House of Representatives vote on the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law, Democratic Party chairman and then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued the Perppu on Oct. 2 '€” days before the end of his term '€” to maintain direct elections.

Party leaders under the Red-and-White Coalition, including Golkar'€™s Aburizal Bakrie, had signed a pact to back the Democratic Party'€™s proposal to support the Perppu in exchange for the latter'€™s support for joining their opposition coalition at the House and the People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Golkar'€™s national congress, which concluded on Thursday, however, unexpectedly rejected the Perppu despite Aburizal'€™s success in securing a second term.

Golkar'€™s move will inevitably harm the prospects of the Perppu being approved by the House, as Golkar controls the most legislative seats in the opposition coalition.

Yudhoyono said late on Thursday that he considered Golkar'€™s move a '€œbetrayal'€.

'€œThe Democratic Party agreed to join the Red-and-White Coalition in the House and MPR leadership under one condition '€” that the [coalition] must agree and support the Perppu,'€ Yudhoyono said on Twitter, late on Thursday.

'€œNow, Golkar unilaterally rejects the Perppu, betraying the agreement that has been made. For me, this is [against] my basic principles. It is impossible for the Democratic Party to cooperate with parties that are inconsistent, betray [their] promises and abandon [their] commitments,'€ Yudhoyono said.

Yudhoyono added that he had instructed Democratic Party executives to work together with parties in the ruling coalition to ensure the passage of the Perppu.

'€œI have instructed Democratic Party leaders to approach the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Great Indonesia Coalition to ensure that our efforts are successful,'€ he said.

The PDI-P, the country'€™s largest political party, successfully brought President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to to power, but has so far failed to secure majority support in the House, which consists of 10 factions.

President Jokowi'€™s ruling coalition would get a significant boost if the Democratic Party, now the House'€™s fourth largest faction, left the opposition coalition.

Democratic Party executive Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin, however, said the party had no plan to jump ship anytime soon.

'€œWe will side with any political party that supports the Perppu, which has become SBY'€™s legacy of democratization in Indonesia,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Responding to Yudhoyono'€™s criticism, Golkar spokesperson Tantowi Yahya said Golkar'€™s political position on the Perppu was not yet final.

'€œThe national congress is a forum for Golkar regional executives and supporter organizations to share ideas and hopes, including their support for indirect [regional] elections. It'€™s impossible for the congress and party central board to reject such a recommendation,'€ he said.

'€œThe party'€™s central board will pass [the recommendation] to the Golkar faction [at the House]. So, we must wait for the [faction'€™s] final decision.'€

Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) political science researcher Arya Fernandes said the dispute over the Perppu would give the Democratic Party the upper hand.

'€œYudhoyono understands that the Democratic party will only survive if it can play a balancing act between the two coalitions,'€ he said.