Cracks emerge in SBY coalition
Tiarma Siboro and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Signs of cracks in the coalition of political parties that support president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are emerging as they question his choice of several ministerial candidates.
The Muslim-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said on Sunday it was considering withdrawing its support for Susilo, should the president-elect press ahead with his appointment of ministerial candidates whose future policies would lean towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other figures who were implicated in legal problems.
Susilo, however, defended his stance, saying he had checked with watchdog institutions and found the candidates were eligible. No one should "dent their chances of becoming ministers", he said.
The president-elect continued his one-on-one interviews with prospective aides at his residence in the Puri Cikeas Indah housing complex in Bogor later in the day. EE Mangindaan, of the Democratic Party that Susilo cofounded, Suryadarma Ali, of the United Development Party and Anggito Abimanyu, who chairs the Agency for Economic Analysis and International Cooperation (Bapekti), turned up for the interviews that started at about 8:30 p.m.
Former Indonesian ambassador to Russia Rachmat Witoelar also appeared at Susilo's residence but was tightlipped as he rushed to his waiting car.
PKS acting chairman Tiffatul Sembiring said Susilo should drop candidates who were mired in financial and legal problems.
"If our warnings fall on deaf ears, we will evaluate our presence in the coalition," Tiffatul said. The PKS had also been flooded with demands to reject pro-IMF candidates from its members, non-governmental organizations and concerned individuals, Tiffatul said.
Economist Mari Elka Pangestu and Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who currently serves as the IMF executive director for Southeast Asia, are two candidates for the position. While Mari was interviewed on Saturday, a source said an interview with Sri Mulyani was being arranged.
Echoing the PKS, the executive board of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) said it was considering abandoning the coalition but for a different reason.
PBB deputy chairman Sahar L. Hasan said Susilo had not done justice to the party, which had supported him all along.
Sahar also said the appointment of ministers with professional backgrounds might not be a good idea. "Those who are considered professional may not have a managerial capability. They even could have contributed to wrecking the country," he said.
The PBB is led by Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who currently serves as Minister for Justice and Human Rights.
Susilo dismissed fears his Cabinet would be influenced by the IMF, saying that Indonesia had severed ties with the international donor in regards to the Letter of Intent that had spelled out the country's agreement to carry out IMF-prescribed economic recovery programs.
He also said he had checked with the Enterprise Assets Management, which is to take over the unfinished jobs of the now- defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, over allegations some of his candidates were blacklisted.
"As I have found out these rumors are not true, no one should forbid me from appointing them as my ministers," Susilo said.
He said he would reserve high-ranking government posts for political parties, whose members might not secure ministerial jobs.
"Believe me, I will remember the parties' contributions to my success and I will grant their members appropriate posts which, of course, should not be in my Cabinet," Susilo said.