PKS faces rift over support for government
PKS faces rift over support for government
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is facing internal conflict
following its patrons' decision to renew the party's support for
the government.
PKS secretary-general Anis Matta said on Tuesday the vote of
confidence for the government of President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla had drawn protest from
around 60 percent of the party's regional leaders.
Anis said the regional leaders expressed disappointment
through text messages they sent to him.
"Far from my earlier estimate, not only the Yogyakarta chapter
has criticized the decision as I received more text messages from
leaders of most regional chapters," said Anis, who is also a
member of House of Representatives Commission I on political,
defense and foreign affairs.
Anis deemed the decision taken by the influential board of
patrons a fair compromise.
"The support should be seen as a moderate way to bridge the
party's loyalty to its constituents and the party's commitment to
the state," he said.
Anis said the government should not take PKS support for
granted.
"It is up to the government whether it can retain our
political backing for another year," Anis said.
PKS patrons said the party's support would be subject to
review after one year.
They reaffirmed their support for the government, saying its
shortcomings were within tolerable limits.
In their eight-point statement, the patrons underlined the
government's unpopular policies that they said had led to more
suffering for the people. The government's most controversial
policy was the 126 percent average increase in fuel prices.
PKS has especially criticized the performance of the Cabinet's
economics team. PKS president Tiffatul Sembiring said after the
meeting on Sunday he would ask Susilo for an opportunity to
directly submit the party's evaluation of the government's
performance.
Tiffatul refused to comment on reports saying the party would
ask President Susilo to grant one more seat in the Cabinet, from
the current three seats.
PKS has reportedly been seeking the attorney general seat, due
to its concern about its persistent fight against corruption.
A party member and former official of the State Intelligence
Coordinating Agency (Bakin), Soeripto, has reportedly been
nominated to replace Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh.
Other reports said PKS would likely get an additional seat in
the Cabinet in the upcoming reshuffle. Some analysts believe the
reshuffle would affect finance minister Jusuf Anwar, who is non-
partisan.
A legislator told detik.com news portal that PKS had also
proposed its new member Fuad Bawazier, a finance minister under
dictator Soeharto, for the finance minister post.
"The proposal was agreed," the source said, but the
endorsement has irked the National Mandate Party (PAN), of which
Fuad is a former member. Fuad left PAN after losing in the race
for its chairmanship to Soetrisno Bachir in April.