Convinced of winning election, PDI-P to draft shadow cabinet

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Confident of winning the 2004 general election, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) is now planning to establish a shadow cabinet for the 2004 election.

PDI Perjuangan deputy chairman Roy B.B. Janis said on Tuesday that such a cabinet would support the upcoming president and minimize the possibility of appointing unsuitable people to the cabinet.

"The shadow cabinet would support the government and consist of people from several parties," Roy said after the party's weekly meeting chaired by chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the president.

Roy did not reveal how many ministers his party wanted to have in the next administration nor the parties invited to sit in the cabinet.

"Our party has calculated how many seats we will have in the shadow cabinet," he said.

PDI Perjuangan won 35 percent of the vote in the 1999 general election but the party was unable to install Megawati as president in 1999 until after members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body, had impeached former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001 for incompetence.

PDI Perjuangan is likely to re-field Megawati as its torchbearer in the 2004 election.

Roy, however, shied away from mentioning the party's target in the upcoming general election, but expressed optimism that Megawati would remain unchallenged in 2004, as the country would adopt a direct presidential election.

"We will not exclude other parties from the shadow cabinet list as we expect that whoever wins the coming election will not exclude other major parties," Roy said.

The idea of a shadow cabinet was first floated by PDI Perjuangan deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung on Monday.

"Such a move is important to provide a clear picture for the public on the objectives of the party during the campaign period," Pramono said.

Such a proposal would also allow the public to express its objection to candidates before they were officially appointed by the president-elect, Pramono added.

Many party leaders were disappointed with Megawati's decision to appoint only a few party members as ministers in her cabinet, apparently to minimize the party's influence in her administration.

PDI Perjuangan, has only four members in the current cabinet, while Vice President Hamzah Haz's United Development Party (PPP), which won around 14 percent of the vote, has two.