Golkar offers solid coalition

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta

With the presidency appearing to slip through its fingers, Golkar Party is proposing a permanent coalition among parties that control the most seats in the House of Representatives to ensure a strong and effective government.

Although the coalition is open to any political party, Golkar has stated its preference to form it with the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P) whose presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri looks certain to contest the runoff in September against the Democratic Party's Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Other political parties can join the coalition as long as they share a similar platform to ours," Ade Komaruddin, deputy chairman of the Golkar faction at the House, said on Wednesday.

Ade said Golkar was not only prepared to form a coalition to help Megawati win the presidency, but an opposition camp if she loses to Susilo.

The country saw a persistent standoff between the House and the president under the administration of Abdurrahman Wahid, who won the top post in 1999 although his party PKB controlled less than 12 percent of the House seats. The squabble climaxed with Abdurrahman being dismissed in 2001.

Fellow Golkar leader Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa said earlier his party had discussed the permanent coalition issue with fellow party members on several occasions.

Agun said Golkar was torn between supporting Megawati and Susilo, whose running mate Jusuf Kalla is a Golkar Party member.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung has hinted at lending support for Megawati several times recently, although the party will only determine its preference after the General Elections Commission (KPU) announces the two candidates who qualify for the runoff on Monday.

Megawati has also held talks with Abdurrahman for the first time since his dismissal as president, although he said he would again boycott the election.

In a bizarre move, however, Abdurrahman visited Golkar presidential candidate Wiranto at his residence in East Jakarta on Wednesday. The PKB chief patron refused, however, to disclose the substance of his one hour meeting with Wiranto.

A coalition between Golkar and PDI-P will make an influential faction in the 550-member House as they garnered 237 seats between them in the April 5 legislative election. They will need only one more party to control the House.

Susilo's Democratic Party has 55 seats in the House and has so far decided to refrain from talking about a coalition until after the runoff.

There is concern that a coalition among the nationalist- oriented parties like Golkar, PDI-P and PKB may create a polarization with a coalition of Muslim parties at the other end.

Sociologist Ignas Kleden and political analyst Fachry Ali, however, dismissed such a fear.

"That polarization between nationalist and Muslim groups is no longer relevant. There are various factions even within a religious group," Ignas told The Jakarta Post.

Ignas said a political coalition would be based on the closeness of political leaders, practical considerations and effectiveness of the government.