Ante up in runoff coalition lobbying<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Lobbying among politicians has intensified in the past few days,
\nwith vice presidential candidate Siswono Yudohusodo and several
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics being the latest group of people to
\nmeet President Megawati Soekarnoputri at her official residence
\non Jl. Teuku Umar here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Separately, presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
\n(SBY) brushed aside a claim by his running mate Jusuf Kalla, who
\nearlier said that if elected the pair would allocate 40 percent
\nof the positions in their Cabinet to members of political parties
\nand the remaining 60 percent to professionals.<\/p>\n
Siswono, the running mate of Amien Rais, said after meeting
\nMegawati that he took the opportunity to convey his ideas to
\nMegawati, who will likely compete with front runner Susilo in the
\nrunoff. Some have predicted that she will win the election.<\/p>\n
Siswono, who has obviously lost his chance at the vice
\npresidency, urged Megawati in the meeting to pay more attention
\nto the grass roots and improve the country's ability to stand on
\nits own feet.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the next government will pay more attention to
\nreducing unemployment, improving education and people's welfare,\"
\nsaid Siswono, who claimed the meeting was at Megawati's
\ninitiative. Siswono denied that the meeting was aimed at either
\nforging a coalition with Megawati or supporting her in the
\nrunoff, slated on Sept. 20 this year.<\/p>\n
He further said that there should be further consideration
\nbefore deciding who he supported in the runoff.<\/p>\n
Siswono stressed that he did not represent his running mate
\nAmien Rais at the meeting, saying that Amien, in his capacity as
\nNational Mandate Party (PAN) leader, would decide for himself who
\nto support.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Megawati also received NU clerics from
\nLirboyo Islamic boarding school in East Java province. At the
\nmeeting, the NU clerics expressed support for Megawati's bid for
\nthe presidency.<\/p>\n
Friday's meeting was held following Megawati's earlier
\nmeetings with National Awakening Party (PKB) chief patron
\nAbdurrahman Wahid and Reform Star Party (PBR) leader Zainuddin
\nMZ.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, after attending Friday prayers at Al Azhar Mosque
\nin South Jakarta, Susilo reiterated that he would prefer to
\nestablish a limited coalition to ensure that check-and-balance
\nmechanisms worked. \"I guess we could have an ideal coalition if
\nthe government accommodated only particular parties in the
\nCabinet, while the others would become the opposition. The
\nconcept would create a check and balance,\" said Susilo.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ante-up-in-runoff-coalition-lobbying-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}