11 parties meet to discuss poll flaws, alliance

11 parties meet to discuss poll flaws, alliance

Tiarma Siboro and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With no party likely to win an absolute majority of seats in the
House of Representatives, rivalries between political parties
have quickly turned into talks on coalitions ahead of the
presidential election.

Dozens of figures from 11 political parties, including former
president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, presidential hopeful from
Golkar, Wiranto, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) secretary-general
Anis Matta and National Mandate Party (PAN) executive Samuel
Kotto, met in hotel in the heart of Jakarta on Thursday.

Asked if the gathering was part of efforts to ensure incumbent
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's defeat, none of those present
was willing to comment directly.

"You can draw that conclusion for yourselves," Wiranto said to
the press.

PKS leader Hidayat Nurwahid and Democratic Party cofounder
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono were also expected at the meeting, but
they did not show up. The two reportedly held a separate meeting.

The representatives of the 11 parties instead issued a joint
statement criticizing the General Elections Commission (KPU) for
its sloppy handling of many facets of the election, most notably
ballot tabulation.

"The KPU's poor performance has denied many eligible voters
their right to elect the leaders of their choice. Many were
unable to vote because they were not on the list of voters," Gus
Dur said.

A survey by the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI)
based on exit polls at 2,000 voting stations revealed that Golkar
would finish first with only 22.7 percent of the vote, with
President Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P) second with 18 percent. Other surveys published before
the April 5 election came to a similar conclusion.

PDI-P, which as of Friday evening, had the narrowest of leads
over Golkar with just under 21 percent with a third of the votes
counted, said that it was willing to build a coalition with other
political parties.

The party's secretary general Pramono Anung said that PDI-P
was prepared to build a coalition with anyone, including the
Democratic Party, whose founder Susilo resigned as the
coordinating minister for political and security affairs after a
rift with Megawati.

"But if the Democratic Party deems we are a competitor, then
so be it." he was quoted by Agence-France Presse as saying.

Democratic Party chairman Budi Santoso responded to Pramono's
call, saying his party was open to a coalition with those that it
agreed with.

"We are willing to form a coalition with parties whose
platforms are identical to ours," he said.

While denying that Thursday's meeting of 11 party leaders
would lead to a coalition, PAN executive Samuel Kotto said
rampant public speculation on possible alliances would distract
people's attention from the poor organization of the legislative
election.

"Such speculation will overshadow the real problem of poor
preparation and administration of the polls, which do need
addressing," he said.

"Political leaders of all stripes need to focus on saving this
election first before discussing any coalitions. They have to
join the people and press in monitoring the election results."

He said he suspected that serious irregularities, particularly
vote rigging and data manipulation, were rampant in Monday's
election.