ID :
50307
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 22:24
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https://www.oananews.org//node/50307
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News Focus: MEGAWATI-KALLA MEETING RESULTS NOT IN ALLIANCE BUT FIVE-POINT ACCORD
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, 12 March (ANTARA) - Public predictions that a meeting between Megawati Soekarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP,) and Yusuf Kalla, general chairman of the Golkar Party, on Thursday would touch on the possibility of forming a coalition proved to be incorrect.
The talks on an alliance which was reported still open as signaled by Muladi, a deputy Golkar leader, were not totally touched at all during the historic meeting between the leaders of the two big political parties but it would not automatically shatter the Golkar-PDIP alliance in the future.
In fact, Megawati Soekarnoputri in a joint press conference with Jusuf Kalla after the meeting said that her meeting with Kalla was a preliminary one.
"It is a preliminary meeting between the leaders of the two parties and we will continue to do so. After this meeting, there will be continuous communication between PDI-P and Golkar," she said.
Megawati said the meeting did not touch on presidential and vice presidential candidates. "But about matters relating to presidential and vice presidential candidates, please be patient, because PDI-P has its own rules and processes. Before the presidential election we will hold a national working meeting on how PDI-P will choose its presidential candidate."
In the meantime, Jusuf Kalla said Golkar Party would decide on presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election.
"We all understand how to take a further step. All political parties will decide their presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election because each party has its own internal processes," Jusuf Kalla said.
According to Kalla, his meeting this time with Megawati was intended to make the upcoming election run successfully and peacefully and to have a strong government in the future.
"We hope that if Golkar and PDI-P have one accord to take part in a peaceful election, the people will of course follow our steps," Kalla said.
More important to note was that the two leaders' meeting produced a five-point joint agreement which during the press conference was read out alternately by Golkar Party Secretary General Soemarsono and PDI-P Secretary General Pramono Anung.
The five-point joint agreement is to establish a strong government for national development and people's welfare; to strengthen presidential government system in accordance with 1945 Constitution with a strong support at the House of Representatives; to strengthen sovereign, independent and people oriented economic system; to strengthen PDI-P-Golkar political communication as the manifestation of the two parties' responsibility in 1999 and 2004 election; and to make successful, direct, fair, and free 2009 election.
A few minutes after the meeting, Surya Paloh in this capacity as the Chairman of the Golkar Advisory Board and Taufik Kiemas told the press that the two parties had also reached a commitment to cooperate with each other, in which the public interpreted it as a kind of coalition, a journalist of a TV station said on Thursday.
According to Surya Paloh, if Golkar party wins the legislative general election, the vice presidential post will be given to the leader of PDI-P and vice versa.
In 2007, Surya Paloh and Taufik Kiemas the chairman of PDIP Advisory Board, declared an alliance of Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at a gathering attended by thousands of the two political parties' cadres in Medan.
The two biggest political parties, Golkar and PDI-P, were not historical partners, a political analyst, Wimar Witoelar said.
In fact Megawati, under the guidance of Taufik Kiemas, rose from obscurity because of the persecution she suffered as the Soeharto-supported PDI cleaned the path for Golkar to become the unchallenged formal political group -- until Soeharto overstayed his welcome.
Golkar was a major player behind the transfer of power from Wahid to Megawati, which earned Soeharto-loyalists a degree of trust from PDI-P, Wimar said.
Now PDI-P is out of power again and Golkar has found a comfort of sorts in the uneasy partnership between Jusuf Kalla and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- an ex-military man with no real political support from the established parties.
Many find it strange that Golkar insiders would now team up with PDI-P outsiders, he said adding that more puzzling was the question of how exactly this alliance would work out.
To nobody's surprise Vice President Jusuf Kalla played down the plans of his party's alliance.
He cannot be expected to confess to President Yudhoyono his party is trying to find a way to dump him in 2009.
In terms of the impact on the current administration, Golkar has been pro-government, while PDI-P has declared itself to be the opposition.
So how logical is this kind of alliance, if it does actually take shape? The Golkar-PDI-P may or may not affect the chances of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his 2009 reelection bid.
Not in the sense that it might provoke an adjustment by SBY, because he is not sensitive to political realignments.
The presidential election in 2009 would not be determined by the strategy of SBY -- but by the kind of candidate the Golkar-PDI-P alliance would present, he said.
It is up to Golkar and PDI-P to come up with good candidates. Both have very strong mass bases which are ideologically acceptable because they are basically secular and nationalist in orientation.
But neither party has credible candidates.
Golkar has a large supply of famous people but none inspire people's support. And PDI-P does not have any stars except Megawati Soekarnoputeri. "We have seen her miserable performance while she was President as well as back in 1999 when she was a front-runner to restore the glory of the Sukarno dynasty."
The Golkar-PDI-P alliance is a very strong electoral machine looking for a credible candidate.
If they can set aside the personal egos of their leaders -- they have a chance of bringing credibility to Indonesia's national leadership.
Jakarta, 12 March (ANTARA) - Public predictions that a meeting between Megawati Soekarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP,) and Yusuf Kalla, general chairman of the Golkar Party, on Thursday would touch on the possibility of forming a coalition proved to be incorrect.
The talks on an alliance which was reported still open as signaled by Muladi, a deputy Golkar leader, were not totally touched at all during the historic meeting between the leaders of the two big political parties but it would not automatically shatter the Golkar-PDIP alliance in the future.
In fact, Megawati Soekarnoputri in a joint press conference with Jusuf Kalla after the meeting said that her meeting with Kalla was a preliminary one.
"It is a preliminary meeting between the leaders of the two parties and we will continue to do so. After this meeting, there will be continuous communication between PDI-P and Golkar," she said.
Megawati said the meeting did not touch on presidential and vice presidential candidates. "But about matters relating to presidential and vice presidential candidates, please be patient, because PDI-P has its own rules and processes. Before the presidential election we will hold a national working meeting on how PDI-P will choose its presidential candidate."
In the meantime, Jusuf Kalla said Golkar Party would decide on presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election.
"We all understand how to take a further step. All political parties will decide their presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election because each party has its own internal processes," Jusuf Kalla said.
According to Kalla, his meeting this time with Megawati was intended to make the upcoming election run successfully and peacefully and to have a strong government in the future.
"We hope that if Golkar and PDI-P have one accord to take part in a peaceful election, the people will of course follow our steps," Kalla said.
More important to note was that the two leaders' meeting produced a five-point joint agreement which during the press conference was read out alternately by Golkar Party Secretary General Soemarsono and PDI-P Secretary General Pramono Anung.
The five-point joint agreement is to establish a strong government for national development and people's welfare; to strengthen presidential government system in accordance with 1945 Constitution with a strong support at the House of Representatives; to strengthen sovereign, independent and people oriented economic system; to strengthen PDI-P-Golkar political communication as the manifestation of the two parties' responsibility in 1999 and 2004 election; and to make successful, direct, fair, and free 2009 election.
A few minutes after the meeting, Surya Paloh in this capacity as the Chairman of the Golkar Advisory Board and Taufik Kiemas told the press that the two parties had also reached a commitment to cooperate with each other, in which the public interpreted it as a kind of coalition, a journalist of a TV station said on Thursday.
According to Surya Paloh, if Golkar party wins the legislative general election, the vice presidential post will be given to the leader of PDI-P and vice versa.
In 2007, Surya Paloh and Taufik Kiemas the chairman of PDIP Advisory Board, declared an alliance of Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) at a gathering attended by thousands of the two political parties' cadres in Medan.
The two biggest political parties, Golkar and PDI-P, were not historical partners, a political analyst, Wimar Witoelar said.
In fact Megawati, under the guidance of Taufik Kiemas, rose from obscurity because of the persecution she suffered as the Soeharto-supported PDI cleaned the path for Golkar to become the unchallenged formal political group -- until Soeharto overstayed his welcome.
Golkar was a major player behind the transfer of power from Wahid to Megawati, which earned Soeharto-loyalists a degree of trust from PDI-P, Wimar said.
Now PDI-P is out of power again and Golkar has found a comfort of sorts in the uneasy partnership between Jusuf Kalla and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- an ex-military man with no real political support from the established parties.
Many find it strange that Golkar insiders would now team up with PDI-P outsiders, he said adding that more puzzling was the question of how exactly this alliance would work out.
To nobody's surprise Vice President Jusuf Kalla played down the plans of his party's alliance.
He cannot be expected to confess to President Yudhoyono his party is trying to find a way to dump him in 2009.
In terms of the impact on the current administration, Golkar has been pro-government, while PDI-P has declared itself to be the opposition.
So how logical is this kind of alliance, if it does actually take shape? The Golkar-PDI-P may or may not affect the chances of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his 2009 reelection bid.
Not in the sense that it might provoke an adjustment by SBY, because he is not sensitive to political realignments.
The presidential election in 2009 would not be determined by the strategy of SBY -- but by the kind of candidate the Golkar-PDI-P alliance would present, he said.
It is up to Golkar and PDI-P to come up with good candidates. Both have very strong mass bases which are ideologically acceptable because they are basically secular and nationalist in orientation.
But neither party has credible candidates.
Golkar has a large supply of famous people but none inspire people's support. And PDI-P does not have any stars except Megawati Soekarnoputeri. "We have seen her miserable performance while she was President as well as back in 1999 when she was a front-runner to restore the glory of the Sukarno dynasty."
The Golkar-PDI-P alliance is a very strong electoral machine looking for a credible candidate.
If they can set aside the personal egos of their leaders -- they have a chance of bringing credibility to Indonesia's national leadership.
