PDI Perjuangan anticipates threat from Golkar Party
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Just a few hours after the Attorney General's Office decided to detain Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung, the party fought back and vowed that they would go further by withdrawing its members from the Cabinet and even initiating a "national boycott" against the government.
State Minister for Information and Telecommunication Syamsul Muarif, who is a Golkar senior member, said that a number of Golkar executives, including himself, had given their guarantee to the government for Akbar's release.
Nevertheless, if that does not work, Golkar would realize its threat that it would retract its members from the Cabinet of President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"However, when we reach a certain point that we could not tolerate anymore, maybe we would conduct a national boycott and leave the Cabinet," Syamsul told The Jakarta Post.
He added that the decision to possibly conduct a political vendetta against the government was taken at a meeting on Wednesday night.
Golkar currently has three ministers in the Cabinet, including Syamsul. The other two are Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla, and State Minister of Women Empowerment Sri Redjeki Soemarjoto.
Golkar, the second largest party in the country after Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), played an important role in catapulting Megawati into presidency after ousting former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
This Golkar's strong intention to pull its support from the current government quickly raise question whether this would bring political instability and ruin the current coalition among big parties in supporting Megawati, until the end of her tenure in 2004.
Since the graft case in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) involving Akbar came to fore late last year, many Golkar members have repeatedly threatened that should Akbar be harmed, the party will go all out to create political instability and take everybody down with them.
However, Golkar itself is not that solid, as there are some factions inside the party that do not support Akbar and there is always a possibility that some of its executives may be happy with the government's decision to detain Akbar.
Another weak point is that Golkar carries a bad image of the New Order administration, and therefore, to conduct such vendetta against the current government could backfire.
PDI Perjuangan deputy chairman Roy B.Janis said that he never discounted any possibility that Golkar would disturb the current administration, but in the end it would hurt them more then Megawati.
"Soon they start to conduct a terrible move against the government, people will see that Golkar is against legal proceedings and it will be a very bad campaign for them," Roy told the Post.
He further said that the decision to detain Akbar had put Golkar in the edge, and would open a new arsenal for Akbar's opponents to fight for the party's top post.
Khofifah Indar Parawansa, a former minister under Abdurrahman, said that PDI Perjuangan should not worry about Golkar's threat, noting that in any case, Golkar would be the loser.
"Currently, Golkar has only bad choices. In either way, their image will be in stake. Whether it decides to become a opposition or conduct any political move against Megawati, it will only hurt its image," Khofifah told the Post.
Political analyst Arbi Sanit agreed and said that the planned departure of Golkar from the Cabinet should serve as a golden chance for Megawati to side with the justice and the people.
"Now is the time for PDI Perjuangan to show its true color to maintain the support of the Indonesian people and brave the consequences," he told the Post.