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View all search resultsGolkar’s proposal for permanent coalition backfires
A proposal to make the coalition supporting President Prabowo Subianto’s administration permanent has backfired on Golkar Party, with coalition members calling it inappropriate while thousands of people are still displaced after deadly floods wreaked havoc on Sumatra.
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President Prabowo Subianto (left), accompanied by Golkar Party chairman Bahlil Lahadalia (second right) and a singer, performs a song on Dec.12, 2024, during an event commemorating the Golkar Party's 60th anniversary in Sentul, Bogor, West Java. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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hen Golkar Party proposed to make the coalition of political parties behind President Prabowo Subianto permanent until the next election, the hope was to maintain political stability needed for a strong government.
Instead, the plan backfired, with coalition members calling it inappropriate while people in Sumatra are still struggling to recover from the devastating floods and landslides that hit two weeks ago.
Golkar chairman Bahlil Lahadalia touted his plan in the party anniversary celebration in Jakarta last Friday, saying that turning the Indonesia Onward Coalition (KIM) into a permanent coalition was needed to build a strong, stable government.
His proposal came as the government-controlled House of Representatives is set to discuss the revision to election rules next year.
Bahlil, who also serves as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, said such a new arrangement would prevent members from leaving the coalition when times become challenging. “It is time to establish a true coalition framework. If we suffer, we suffer together. If we rejoice, we rejoice together,” he said.
The KIM coalition supporting the Prabowo government comprises seven out of eight political parties in the House of Representatives and controls 81 percent of its seats. It is led by Prabowo’s own Gerindra Party.
Some coalition members, however, refrained from taking a decisive stance on Golkar’s proposal, including those which initially were proponents of the idea, such as the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). They warned that raising such an issue when thousands of people in Sumatra are still displaced after deadly flash floods and landslides was “inappropriate”.
