More Than One Party Needed To Come Up With Indonesia's Next President

By Elmi Rizal Alias JAKARTA, April 14 (Bernama) -- If the quick count conducted for the Indonesian parliamentary polls on last Wednesday is anything to go by, the horse trading is on to come up with a presidential and vice-presidential candidate. Though the official vote count will only be known between 7-9 May, the quick count indicated non of the contesting parties had garnered enough votes to nominate a presidential candidate. Based on Indonesia's democratic system, a political party has to secure at least 25 percent of the total popular votes or a minimum of 20 percent of the 560 seats of the legislative assembly in order to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidate. Therefore, the Parti Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) that is in the forefront out of the 11 contenders, has to cobble an alliance or workout an agreement with other parties to nominate candidates for the presidential election on July 9. A quick count conducted by the Lembaga Lingkaran Survei Indonesia (LSI) on Thursday, placed PDI-P at the top of the ladder with 19.77 percent of the votes going to the party, followed by Parti Golkar (14.61), Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerindra - 11.80) while the ruling party, Demokrat, is at the fourth place with 9.73 percent of the votes. SMALLER PARTIES COULD BE THE KING MAKERS There were numerous small parties that accumulated about 40 percent of the total votes and they could serve as the king makers in coming up with a presidential candidate. Among them are Parti Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) is in the fifth place with 9.07 percent of the votes, followed by Parti Amanat Nasional (PAN-7.47 percent) and Parti Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP-7.08 percent). Then there is the Parti Nasional Demokrat (Nasdem-6.93 percent), Parti Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS - 6.84 percent) and Parti Hati Nurani Rakyat (Hanura - 6.72 percent). And the two parties with the lowest vote count were Parti Bulan Bintang (PBB) that recorded 1.36 percent of the votes, and the Parti Keadilan dan Persatuan Indonesia (PKPI-0.97 peratus). Indonesia Survey Institute Researcher, Rully Akbar said that based on the voting pattern, the electoral contestants could form three bases of coalition that would decide the real political map in the upcoming presidential race. "The three maps of coalitions are the PDIP-led coalition, the coalition of Golkar and the coalition of the other parties," said Rully. HORSE TRADING ALREADY UNDERWAY Meanwhile, the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) Executive Director Denny JA predicted that PDIP and Golkar would become leaders of a coalition in the next government. "PDI-P and Golkar will become coalition leaders. This means that they will compete in the presidential race but after the presidential elections, they will set up a joint coalition government," added Denny JA. PDI-P itself has indicated it is open towards the idea. PDI-P executive board chairman Panda Nababan as quoted by Antara news agency confirmed in Medan, North Sumatra that his party, after seeing the result of the legislative elections was aware that the presidential contest would very tight. Despite, the high votes it won in the legislative elections, it does not mean that the party will rule out the possibility of cooperating with other, particularly with those having the same political platforms. PARTIES ARE TESTING THE WATERS "So, the opportunity to form a coalition government is open," Panda said. Panda explained that PDI-P is likely to coalesce with political parties which is so far yet to announce their presidential hopefuls, such as the PKB, PKS, NasDem, PAN and PPP. The ruling Democratic Party (PD) meanwhile asserted that it was still studying the political developments after the legislative elections. "Democrat has not decided with whom it will coalesce. We are now consolidating and after observing the clear political map; of course, we will develop political communications with other parties," PD General Chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who is also the Indonesian president said. "There is a question as to whether the PD will be in the coalition or become an opposition if the president of the coalition is not based on the PDs nomination. I will say it could be both. If it is acceptable, the PD will be in the coalition, if not, it is ready to become the opposition," stressed Susilo. -- BERNAMA