Observers hail PPP-Megawati alliance

JAKARTA (JP): Observers have given the thumbs up to the United Development Party's (PPP) move to embrace Megawati Soekarnoputri loyalists but warn it may backlash if not properly managed.

They said Wednesday in separate interviews that if the alliance did materialize, it would be fragile because the two camps had fundamentally different political agendas.

Contributing ideas were political observers Muhammad Hikam, Daniel Dhakidae and Alexander Irwan.

At the center of the debate is the PPP's maneuver to accommodate the many frustrated Megawati supporters who are confused as to what party they should vote for in the May 29 election.

Megawati, elected Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) chief by a popular vote in 1993, was ousted in a government-sanctioned rebel congress last year. The government has barred her and her supporters from running in this month's poll.

Hikam from the Institute of Indonesian Sciences said that if PPP was serious in wanting to win over Megawati supporters to its cause, the party should adjust its political agenda.

Although formally claiming to be an open party, PPP is considered a Moslem party, while Megawati and her followers are nationalist, he said.

If PPP failed to adjust its political agenda to bridge the difference, Megawati loyalists may refuse to vote for it when polling day comes, he said.

"I'm afraid Megawati loyalists are only enthusiastic about joining the PPP campaign; that does not necessarily mean they will vote for PPP," said Hikam.

Megawati, first president Sukarno's eldest daughter, has called on her supporters to vote for any party they like.

Megawati loyalists generally prefer campaigning for PPP instead of the dominant party Golkar. During PPP rallies, they have chanted pro-Megawati and PPP slogans.

PPP Surakarta branch chief Mudrick Sangidoe met Megawati on Tuesday. PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum, better known as Buya, said Wednesday he was optimistic PPP's showing in the coming election would be better if Megawati joined forces with him.

Hikam said PPP accepting Megawati's loyalists, if it happened, was only a piece of political pragmatism since both groups were fundamentally different.

He said PPP might face government action and criticism from members if it tried to ally with Megawati.

The party's leaders in Jakarta appeared more skeptical about forging the coalition than its middle-level leaders in the provinces, he said.

Daniel Dhakidae described the latest PPP move as "great", saying the joining of rival political forces was the first instance of its kind during the 30-year-old New Order government.

Coalitions between parties only happened in a parliamentary democracy, he said.

Daniel said the phenomenon reflected an angry protest against the whole political system created by the government, including the general election organization and political laws.

He said PPP might face political risks if it accepted Megawati's supporters. But the coalition would raise PPP's moral stature in public and would help change its image as a closed Islamic party.

"I think PPP should accept Megawati's loyalists," Daniel said, even though the move would require a great deal of moral courage on the part of the party's leaders.

"I think, based on his actions before and during the campaign, Buya has such moral courage," Daniel said.

Alexander believed Megawati would not publicly declare her support for PPP because it would taint her image as a PDI leader and she would risk losing popularity by doing so.

PPP and Megawati were impossible to coalesce since they had significantly different orientation and histories, he said.

"Also, how would they share power?" he asked. (jsk)