ID :
59911
Mon, 05/11/2009 - 00:08
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https://oananews.org//node/59911
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News Focus: YUDHOYONO'S RUNNING MATE STILL A MYSTERY TO THE PUBLIC
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, May 10 (ANTARA) - The man who will be Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate is still a mystery, while the Democratic Party is also reluctant to leak a choice of the party's chief patron, leaving a puzzle to the public.
On the one hand, Yudhoyono himself was reported to have already pocketted the name of a fortunate man to be his running mate. But nobody knows who the man is. Practically, many people either the intellectuals or political analysts could make a guest who the man might be.
Incumbent President Yudhoyono said that in the next few days he will officially announce his running mate in Bandung. However, either the lucky man is Budiono, the governor of Bank Indonesia or Hidayat Nur Wahid, the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly who is also a top figure of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), is still posing a puzzle to the public as the information on this is tightly kept confidential.
The question now is who President Yudhoyono will pair up with for the direct presidential election. Choosing the right vice-presidential running-mate is an important decision, particularly to the Democratic Party. It must form a strong coalition with smaller parties so its presidential ticket remains attractive.
Perhaps, the choice of Hidayat Nur Wahid of PKS is obvious for the Democratic Party. Among the smaller parties, PKS accounts for around 7.88 percent of the popular vote, making it the fourth-largest political party in parliament.
The most recent survey conducted by LP3ES indicates that Hidayat Nur Wahid (HNW) is the most popular vice presidential candidate to be paired with Yudhoyono. If a Yudhoyono-Hidayat partnership is formed, there is no doubt that PKS' political machine will work hard at grassroots level to promote the pair.
To form a coalition with PKS and to nominate Hidayat Nur Wahid as running mate is however not an easy decision as the good image of PKS as an Islamist political party: a party that would seek to introduce Islamic law in Indonesia; a party against pluralism and openness; against women; and that would seek to turn Indonesia into an archaic Islamic state. Indeed, black campaign arguments against PKS are likely to be many.
Forming a coalition with PKS and choosing Hidayat Nur Wahid as a running mate is also important for the internal development and maturity of PKS. There is no denying that there are radical elements within the party.
The transformation of the movement into a fully-fledged political party has not always been easy.
"Some party members cling to hopes that Indonesia will one day become an Islamic state. These radical elements still see the movement as the centre of the world in which Indonesia is expected to conform. But they are also becoming a small minority," Dr Sofyan Siregar, a political analyst who is a roving lecturer of the Islamic University of North Sumatra said on Sunday.
Most PKS members and supporters had to learn that Indonesia is actually pluralistic. They have had to adapt to the transformation of a dakwah movement into a political party that must be attuned to the mainstream agenda.
According to him, this process of change and growth was ongoing within PKS. It was a known fact that PKS was split between hardliners and those who advocate change and innovation. But evidence pointed to the fact that the majority were convinced that change and innovation and its transformation into a full-fledged political party are now inevitable.
The Democrat Party must choose a candidate who is embraced by the local population, but who is also acceptable to the international community. At the same time, coalition partners and the vice-presidential partner must ensure that the Democratic Party-led government is stable, strong and efficient.
Any resistance to choosing a candidate from PKS as a vice-presidential partner may indeed be insurmountable at this stage. One possible alternative is for the Democratic Party to opt for a neutral figure to partner Yudhoyono. Perhaps, they could be a professional or a long-standing bureaucrat who is often referred to Budiono.
Budiono, a bureaucrat seen by many circle is eligible and suitable to pair up with Yudhoyono, will be able to meet the five requirements demanded by the president to be his running mate in the upcoming presidential election in July 8, 2009.
Maybe Budiono was the right figure to be vice presidential candidate to accompany Yudhoyono in his bid for re-election in the upcoming presidential race because of his capability and intellectuality, but many parties which had coalesced with the Democrat Party would likely reject that decision, Sofyan said.
"Yudhoyono's tendency to choose Budiono is regarded as the best choice, as it may not make other coalition parties to envy to each other, because picking Hatta Rajasa will likely make PKS feel offended," he said.
This option would be far better than opting for a vice-presidential partner from another, smaller political party. To do so would be undermining the coalition partnership with PKS, particularly at grassroots levels. It would be difficult for PKS members to see their nominee rejected in favor of a candidate from a smaller political party within the coalition.
According to PKS chairman Tifatul Sembiring, the PKS and the Democrat Party had agreed several points for future political cooperation.
"There are no fundamental differences between the two parties and both will sign the agreement," Sembiring said, adding that the political contract would not specify PKS's vice presidential nominee who would also run as Democrat Party's patron and presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate in the July election.
Among the broad topics discussed so far are regional autonomy, national politics, investment and corruption erradication, Tifatul said.
PKS is now facing a massive challenge to keep up its momentum since it is not a centrist party in terms of its ideological platform and "movement character". The jargon of "partai dakwah" (Propagation Party) describes the specific goal of spreading Islamic ideas of social and political framework of an ideal society upheld by cadres who are trained within the web of network across the country.
As an ideological party with solid political machine resembling the character of a movement, its position in the political spectrum is surely not in the middle. While most of the voters are located in the middle and prefer political parties that offer moderate agenda, transforming the party into a big party is not an easy job. It is believed that ideological party, especially Islamic party, will not reach 10 percent of voters; so that easing the image of a very Islamic party and develop a more friendly image to the potential voters are the most possible alternative.
PKS tends to apply pragmatic adjustment of moderation. This type of moderation refers to an ideological party that wants to be a centrist party without giving up its ideology and the party still clearly abides by Islam as its formal ideological basis by persisting the specific term of "partai dakwah."
In facing the 2009 election, in order to penetrate the majority of the middle moderate voters, PKS has tried to soften its ideological stand to acknowledge the people's awareness. After easing the ideological image, the party also tolerates some of its campaigns to be more attractive.
Image building through the media is also applied by releasing different types of publicity. The most controversial efforts to attract people is putting Soeharto as the nation's guru as part of accepting the history of the country wisely along with some of Indonesian important figures.
Because of a transformation in the party's ideology, it is likely Hidayat Nur Wahid to be the lucky man, but it's not quaranty. However, either Nur Wahid or Budiono to pair up with Yudhoyono is still a puzzle to the public.
***1***
Jakarta, May 10 (ANTARA) - The man who will be Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate is still a mystery, while the Democratic Party is also reluctant to leak a choice of the party's chief patron, leaving a puzzle to the public.
On the one hand, Yudhoyono himself was reported to have already pocketted the name of a fortunate man to be his running mate. But nobody knows who the man is. Practically, many people either the intellectuals or political analysts could make a guest who the man might be.
Incumbent President Yudhoyono said that in the next few days he will officially announce his running mate in Bandung. However, either the lucky man is Budiono, the governor of Bank Indonesia or Hidayat Nur Wahid, the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly who is also a top figure of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), is still posing a puzzle to the public as the information on this is tightly kept confidential.
The question now is who President Yudhoyono will pair up with for the direct presidential election. Choosing the right vice-presidential running-mate is an important decision, particularly to the Democratic Party. It must form a strong coalition with smaller parties so its presidential ticket remains attractive.
Perhaps, the choice of Hidayat Nur Wahid of PKS is obvious for the Democratic Party. Among the smaller parties, PKS accounts for around 7.88 percent of the popular vote, making it the fourth-largest political party in parliament.
The most recent survey conducted by LP3ES indicates that Hidayat Nur Wahid (HNW) is the most popular vice presidential candidate to be paired with Yudhoyono. If a Yudhoyono-Hidayat partnership is formed, there is no doubt that PKS' political machine will work hard at grassroots level to promote the pair.
To form a coalition with PKS and to nominate Hidayat Nur Wahid as running mate is however not an easy decision as the good image of PKS as an Islamist political party: a party that would seek to introduce Islamic law in Indonesia; a party against pluralism and openness; against women; and that would seek to turn Indonesia into an archaic Islamic state. Indeed, black campaign arguments against PKS are likely to be many.
Forming a coalition with PKS and choosing Hidayat Nur Wahid as a running mate is also important for the internal development and maturity of PKS. There is no denying that there are radical elements within the party.
The transformation of the movement into a fully-fledged political party has not always been easy.
"Some party members cling to hopes that Indonesia will one day become an Islamic state. These radical elements still see the movement as the centre of the world in which Indonesia is expected to conform. But they are also becoming a small minority," Dr Sofyan Siregar, a political analyst who is a roving lecturer of the Islamic University of North Sumatra said on Sunday.
Most PKS members and supporters had to learn that Indonesia is actually pluralistic. They have had to adapt to the transformation of a dakwah movement into a political party that must be attuned to the mainstream agenda.
According to him, this process of change and growth was ongoing within PKS. It was a known fact that PKS was split between hardliners and those who advocate change and innovation. But evidence pointed to the fact that the majority were convinced that change and innovation and its transformation into a full-fledged political party are now inevitable.
The Democrat Party must choose a candidate who is embraced by the local population, but who is also acceptable to the international community. At the same time, coalition partners and the vice-presidential partner must ensure that the Democratic Party-led government is stable, strong and efficient.
Any resistance to choosing a candidate from PKS as a vice-presidential partner may indeed be insurmountable at this stage. One possible alternative is for the Democratic Party to opt for a neutral figure to partner Yudhoyono. Perhaps, they could be a professional or a long-standing bureaucrat who is often referred to Budiono.
Budiono, a bureaucrat seen by many circle is eligible and suitable to pair up with Yudhoyono, will be able to meet the five requirements demanded by the president to be his running mate in the upcoming presidential election in July 8, 2009.
Maybe Budiono was the right figure to be vice presidential candidate to accompany Yudhoyono in his bid for re-election in the upcoming presidential race because of his capability and intellectuality, but many parties which had coalesced with the Democrat Party would likely reject that decision, Sofyan said.
"Yudhoyono's tendency to choose Budiono is regarded as the best choice, as it may not make other coalition parties to envy to each other, because picking Hatta Rajasa will likely make PKS feel offended," he said.
This option would be far better than opting for a vice-presidential partner from another, smaller political party. To do so would be undermining the coalition partnership with PKS, particularly at grassroots levels. It would be difficult for PKS members to see their nominee rejected in favor of a candidate from a smaller political party within the coalition.
According to PKS chairman Tifatul Sembiring, the PKS and the Democrat Party had agreed several points for future political cooperation.
"There are no fundamental differences between the two parties and both will sign the agreement," Sembiring said, adding that the political contract would not specify PKS's vice presidential nominee who would also run as Democrat Party's patron and presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate in the July election.
Among the broad topics discussed so far are regional autonomy, national politics, investment and corruption erradication, Tifatul said.
PKS is now facing a massive challenge to keep up its momentum since it is not a centrist party in terms of its ideological platform and "movement character". The jargon of "partai dakwah" (Propagation Party) describes the specific goal of spreading Islamic ideas of social and political framework of an ideal society upheld by cadres who are trained within the web of network across the country.
As an ideological party with solid political machine resembling the character of a movement, its position in the political spectrum is surely not in the middle. While most of the voters are located in the middle and prefer political parties that offer moderate agenda, transforming the party into a big party is not an easy job. It is believed that ideological party, especially Islamic party, will not reach 10 percent of voters; so that easing the image of a very Islamic party and develop a more friendly image to the potential voters are the most possible alternative.
PKS tends to apply pragmatic adjustment of moderation. This type of moderation refers to an ideological party that wants to be a centrist party without giving up its ideology and the party still clearly abides by Islam as its formal ideological basis by persisting the specific term of "partai dakwah."
In facing the 2009 election, in order to penetrate the majority of the middle moderate voters, PKS has tried to soften its ideological stand to acknowledge the people's awareness. After easing the ideological image, the party also tolerates some of its campaigns to be more attractive.
Image building through the media is also applied by releasing different types of publicity. The most controversial efforts to attract people is putting Soeharto as the nation's guru as part of accepting the history of the country wisely along with some of Indonesian important figures.
Because of a transformation in the party's ideology, it is likely Hidayat Nur Wahid to be the lucky man, but it's not quaranty. However, either Nur Wahid or Budiono to pair up with Yudhoyono is still a puzzle to the public.
***1***
