T

he Red-and-White Coalition will unlikely be able to bring its current opposition formation at the House of Representatives to local politics for simultaneous local elections, with the National Mandate Party (PAN) indicating that it would reject such a proposal.

The opposition bloc is looking to continue having a permanent coalition among its current members '€” the Gerindra Party, PAN, the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) '€” in endorsing candidates for local elections by calling for a one-package nomination system in the amendment of the newly endorsed Regional Elections Law.

Under the proposal, a party or a coalition of parties would endorse a ticket as one package.

Such a stipulation would require parties to team up to nominate candidates and their running mates; a proposal that Golkar previously endorsed. The proposal is a departure from the current local election law, which allows a candidate for local leadership to appoint his or her running mate once elected.

As the party with the largest number of seats in the coalition, Golkar has pushed for initiating the permanent partnership, a proposal that has been rejected by several PAN politicians.   

PAN executive Totok Daryanto declined to support Golkar'€™s proposal.

'€œThe collaboration we'€™ve built within the KMP [Red-and-White Coalition] will help us in local elections, but we must not be forced to have it in all regions. We must consider the situation in each area. Thus, we can collaborate wherever the partnership is beneficial,'€ he said.

Although PAN is still an official member of the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, its faction at the House has instead supported the Democratic Party in a number of issues.

PAN, for instance, joined the Democratic Party, which is led by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in calling for the postponement of the decision by the House to endorse the nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan as the next National Police chief during a plenary meeting earlier this month.

PAN, which is currently led by Yudhoyono'€™s son'€™s father-in-law Hatta Rajasa, also backed the move of the Democratic Party when it called the House to reconsider its decision to postpone the selection of new Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner to replace retired Busyro Muqoddas.

Many felt that PAN could likely adopt the Democratic Party'€™s '€œneutral stance'€ at the House.

Although the Democratic Party joined the opposition coalition during the presidential campaign last year, it has declined to officially join the camp.

PAN is expected to hold its national congress next month to elect a new chairman, who could later determine the fate of the party in the opposition camp.

The party'€™s chief patron, Amien Rais, has stressed that PAN'€™s membership in the Red-and-White Coalition was nonnegotiable.  

In the deliberation of the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on direct local elections, PAN leaned toward the position adopted by the Democratic Party and members of the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition '€” the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP), the NasDem Party and the Hanura Party.

Lawmaker Arwani Thomafi of the PPP argued that nominating local heads together with their running mates would have little impact on the performance of local administrations.

'€œIn reality, it is the local leaders who hold the power in directing the administration. Thus, leaders must be allowed to choose their own deputies who share their vision,'€ Arwani said.