Kalla ready to bury old House order

Tony Hotland and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Newly elected Golkar Party leader Vice President Jusuf Kalla strongly signalled Golkar was out of the National Coalition on Monday by saying there was no such permanent bloc in the House.

Meanwhile, analysts said Kalla's victory could threaten the support from parties backing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"There is no such thing as a permanent coalition in the House which is now very dynamic and everything must be in accordance with prevailing issues," Kalla said.

Past decisions were always subject to change, especially in politics. "Golkar will remain a critical partner of the government," Kalla said.

Golkar, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Reform Star Party (PBR), the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and the United Development Party (PPP) earlier agreed to form the Nationhood Coalition to support former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's reelection bid in the Sept. 20 runoff.

Following Megawati's crushing defeat, the PPP quit the coalition, while the four others decided to act together as the opposition in the House.

PDI-P deputy secretary general Pramono Anung, however, said Monday the coalition was never intended to be permanent.

An analyst with the Indonesian Institute of Political Sciences, Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, said with Golkar supporting the government, the party would demand Susilo's attention far more than other parties in the President's People's Coalition and put their support at risk.

"Medium-sized parties are like wild balls that can side with any party that acts in their interests, including the Democratic Party, which might be forgotten by Susilo with the presence of Golkar," Ikrar told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Susilo and Kalla have been supported by the coalition, which includes the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), PPP and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

"It's possible that new groupings will form, although it would change and be more on an issue-and-interest-oriented basis. The current parliament is actually quite flexible and fluid. History has shown that even parties who support the president can be more critical than others," Ikrar said.

Daniel Sparinga from Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java, said medium-sized parties could oppose Susilo if his deputy was too focused on accommodating Golkar's interests.

"The victory may be at the expense of Susilo's position. It may be beneficial in the short term, but in the long term, Kalla could threaten and undermine Susilo's position as President because Kalla seems to have a higher bargaining level," he said.

Daniel said having Golkar on their side, Susilo and Kalla's positions would be more secure with government legislation being passed without much resistance.

"However, it would be far better to have a critical parliament. We can't let their check-and-balance function stall with Golkar coming in. It's also important to assure that the critical people in Golkar will still be critical under the leadership of Kalla," he added.

In the case of the PDI-P, both Ikrar and Daniel believed this was the perfect time for the party to consolidate and improve its image in order to compete in the next general elections.

"They shouldn't prioritize forming a new alliance with other parties. The legislature is quite critical and flexible now, depending on the issues. The (PDI-P) must show they can be more intelligent at scrutinizing and more critical than Golkar is," Ikrar said.