Ante up in runoff coalition lobbying

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

Lobbying among politicians has intensified in the past few days, with vice presidential candidate Siswono Yudohusodo and several Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics being the latest group of people to meet President Megawati Soekarnoputri at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar here on Friday.

Separately, presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) brushed aside a claim by his running mate Jusuf Kalla, who earlier said that if elected the pair would allocate 40 percent of the positions in their Cabinet to members of political parties and the remaining 60 percent to professionals.

Siswono, the running mate of Amien Rais, said after meeting Megawati that he took the opportunity to convey his ideas to Megawati, who will likely compete with front runner Susilo in the runoff. Some have predicted that she will win the election.

Siswono, who has obviously lost his chance at the vice presidency, urged Megawati in the meeting to pay more attention to the grass roots and improve the country's ability to stand on its own feet.

"I hope the next government will pay more attention to reducing unemployment, improving education and people's welfare," said Siswono, who claimed the meeting was at Megawati's initiative. Siswono denied that the meeting was aimed at either forging a coalition with Megawati or supporting her in the runoff, slated on Sept. 20 this year.

He further said that there should be further consideration before deciding who he supported in the runoff.

Siswono stressed that he did not represent his running mate Amien Rais at the meeting, saying that Amien, in his capacity as National Mandate Party (PAN) leader, would decide for himself who to support.

Earlier in the day, Megawati also received NU clerics from Lirboyo Islamic boarding school in East Java province. At the meeting, the NU clerics expressed support for Megawati's bid for the presidency.

Friday's meeting was held following Megawati's earlier meetings with National Awakening Party (PKB) chief patron Abdurrahman Wahid and Reform Star Party (PBR) leader Zainuddin MZ.

Meanwhile, after attending Friday prayers at Al Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta, Susilo reiterated that he would prefer to establish a limited coalition to ensure that check-and-balance mechanisms worked. "I guess we could have an ideal coalition if the government accommodated only particular parties in the Cabinet, while the others would become the opposition. The concept would create a check and balance," said Susilo.