Amien's axis spreads beyond Muslim-leaning parties<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Ahead of the presidential election political leaders have
\nintensified their meetings, as the new \"axis\" of Muslim-leaning
\nparties that was declared on Tuesday had widened to include other
\n\"nationalist\" parties by Wednesday.<\/p>\n
After meeting with National Awakening Party (PKB) cofounder
\nAbdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS)
\npresident Hidayat Nurwahid on Tuesday, National Mandate Party
\n(PAN) leader Amien Rais welcomed on Wednesday some other
\npolitical leaders.<\/p>\n
Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK) leader Eros Djarot,
\nPioneers' Party leader Rachmawati Soekarnoputri and United
\nDemocratic Nationhood Party (PDK) leader Ryaas Rasyid all visited
\nAmien's residence on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The ongoing count of the legislative election results, though
\ncontroversial, has so far confirmed the need for parties to work
\ntogether.<\/p>\n
Amien, one of the president hopefuls and among the initiators
\nof the \"Save the nation axis\", saw his party's position still
\nstuck in seventh place in the ongoing count as of late Wednesday,
\nwith barely 6.5 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n
As of 9:10 p.m. on Wednesday, Golkar was still in the lead
\nwith more than 18 million votes, or 20.85 percent of almost 86.5
\nmillion votes (nearly 60 percent of the total) counted. Second
\nwas the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with
\n19.81 percent, PKB with 12.23 percent and the United Development
\nParty (PPP) with 8.28 percent.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Party came fifth, PKS sixth and PAN followed
\nwith just 6.48 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n
Participants at Wednesday's meetings were cautious about
\nacknowledging discussions on possible coalitions while analyst
\nBachtiar Effendy said an open declaration would gain more
\nsupport.<\/p>\n
The meeting again dismissed views that the axis was aimed at
\ncreating a coalition among Islamic-based political parties
\nbecause the PNBK, PDK and the Pioneers' Party are nationalist-
\noriented political parties. Amien was also expected to welcome
\nthe cleric, Zainuddin MZ, who leads the Reform Star Party (PBR),
\nsoon. The party broke off from the established PPP.<\/p>\n
Bachtiar said the formation of the above axis was unrealistic,
\ngiven that the nation was not in a state of emergency, as its
\nname implied. He said that formation of the alliance was nothing
\nmore than a political coalition in anticipation of the July 5
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
\"They would gain more support if they declared a coalition
\nopenly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The country will have its first-ever direct presidential
\nelection on July 5 and a runoff in September if neither the
\npresidential nor vice presidential candidate wins a majority of
\nthe vote. Only political parties or groups of parties gaining at
\nleast three percent of House seats, or five percent of the
\npopular vote may nominate a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University rector
\nAzyumardi Azra said formation of the axis would not work because
\nit \"ignored Indonesian political wisdom\".<\/p>\n
Such political wisdom, he said, referred to the degree of
\nrepresentation of various groups in society as well as the actual
\npolitical strength of each party.<\/p>\n
The coalition would work, he said, if it also included strong
\npolitical parties that carried a nationalist platform such as
\nGolkar or the PDI-P.<\/p>\n
Amien, a presidential hopeful, said a running mate from a
\nnationalist group might help improve votes for his candidacy. He
\nadded that earlier notions of asking the Democratic Party's
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono to be his running mate were no longer
\nfeasible, given the latter party's larger vote thus far.<\/p>",
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