Councillors start to build coalitions<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Political parties that won seats on the City Council have begun
\nsounding out possible coalitions in order to achieve their mutual
\ngoals, cognizant of the fact that the April 5 legislative
\nelection failed to produce any single winner.<\/p>\n
\"Cooperation is the consequence of the absence of a single
\nmajority. We have begun sounding out possible cooperation with
\nparties that are prepared to work toward mutual objectives,\" said
\nIgo Ilham, a councillor-elect of the Prosperous Justice Party
\n(PKS) on Friday.<\/p>\n
A similar comment came from Solekan Sularno of the Democratic
\nParty who said his party was ready to cooperate with any party in
\ntrying to set up a coalition for the benefit of their respective
\nconstituents.<\/p>\n
\"I think the interests of our respective constituents are
\nsimilar. Therefore, cooperation among councillors from different
\nparties is needed,\" said Sularno, who is a teacher at a junior
\nhigh school in West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
With 24 percent of the total ballots in the city, the PKS is
\nnow the largest party in the council, followed by the Democratic
\nParty with 21.33 percent. The PKS and Democratic Party will have
\n18 and 16 seats respectively in the 75-seat council.<\/p>\n
Igo said that PKS's Jakarta chapter had asked each of its
\ncouncillors to build communication with councillors from
\ndifferent parties.<\/p>\n
According to Igo, such communication will take place
\ninformally in various ways including house visits, family
\ngathering and dinners.<\/p>\n
\"From a personal approach, we will know more about the people
\nwe expect to cooperate with us,\" said Igo, a councillor-elect
\nfrom South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Wilson Hutasoit, a councilor-elect from the Prosperous Peace
\nParty (PDS), also stated the readiness of his party to cooperate
\nwith other parties, including PKS, which stressed \"caring and
\nanticorruption\".<\/p>\n
\"Let's prove to the people that the statements we have made
\nare not just empty slogans. We are ready to cooperate with any
\nparty,\" said Wilson, adding that his party was also committed to
\nfighting corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN).<\/p>\n
He stressed that all councillors should be committed to the
\nanticorruption movement or, at the very least, councillors should
\npledge that they will not get involved in corruption.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want my wealth to take me to hell,\" said Wilson,
\nwhose party will have four seats on the council. He said he now
\nlived in a rented house in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
From the 24 political parties taking part in the election,
\nonly nine won seats on the council.<\/p>\n
Other parties that won seats are the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (11 seats), the Golkar Party (seven), the
\nUnited Development Party (six), the National Mandate Party (six),
\nthe National Awaking Party (four), and the Reform Star Party
\n(three).<\/p>\n
Poor education, flooding, poverty, and transportation problems
\nare issues often raised by politicians in their campaigns.<\/p>\n
Igo stressed that the PKS faction in the council would hire
\nexpert advisors so that the faction could propose solutions to
\nall problems in an appropriate way. \"They are needed because we
\nhave the political will, but don't know much about 'how',\" he
\nadded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councillors-start-to-build-coalitions-1447893297",
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