ID :
60401
Wed, 05/13/2009 - 15:45
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https://www.oananews.org//node/60401
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News Focus: GOLKAR EYEING DISGRUNTLED PARTIES ALIGNED TO DEMOCRATS
By Eliswan Azly
Jakarta, May 13 (ANTARA) - The Golkar Party has begun to eye the four political parties that aligned themselves with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno's Democratic Party (PD) but are now digruntled by Yudhoyono's intention to pick Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election.
The four parties are the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Syamsul Ma'arif, a Golkar Party associate chairman, said here on Wednesday his party would welcome the four parties and accommodate their aspirations if they support the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto pair in the presidential election to be held on July 8, 2009.
"If asked. what if one, two or three political parties want to cooperate with Golkar, I will say, you are welcome. But we are not in a position to persuade them to join us," Mu'arif said.
PKS, PAN, PKB and PPP had joined the Democratic Party (PD)-led coalition to support the incumbent president (Yudhoyono) in the hope he would select one of their leaders to second him in the presidential race.
With Yudhoyono intending to name Boediono as his running mate, the coalition between PD and the four parties is now about to fall apart as the latter have threatened to quit the alliance.
Deputy chairman of the PAN faction in the House of Representatives Djoko Susilo said apart from the fact that Boediono did not belong to any of the coalition parties, the choice was not in line with the tradition of choosing one Javanese and one non-Javanese candidate for the partnership.
Djoko also claimed Boediono's western neoliberal economic perspectives did not suit Indonesia. "We are suspicious of a possible American interference behind the decision (to pick Boediono)."
Meanwhile PPP Deputy Chairman Lukman Hakim said his party acknowledged SBY's right to name a vice-presidential running mate, but added that the president should have consulted it with the PD's coalition partners first.
"The first thing SBY needs to do now is clarify his decision to choose Boediono," he said.
Earlier, the Kalla-Wiranto pair were also present at a meeting of the four political parties in a hotel in Jakarta. Both were invited to the meeting, Ma'arif said, adding that he really appreciated the invitation to invite Kalla and Wiranto to the meeting.
The meeting of four political parties was held in their effort to respond to the emergence of Boediono as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate for the upcoming presidential race.
According to Ma'arif, Golkar was in a position to wait and not to attract or persuade them to join his party.
"If until now the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto pair has yet to be registered at the General Election Commission, it is due to the fact that there is such an opportunity for other political parties to join us," he said.
Syamsul further stressed that at the meeting, it was said that their position in the coalition with the Democratic Party had yet to be formalized in a written document.
"Their coalition with the Democratic Party is only in the context of making statements but the four political parties' coalition was never formulated in the form of a document whereas the leader of each of the political parties should have signed it. Hence, there is a possibility for the four parties to change their stance," he said.
Syamsul compared his party's coalition with the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) which was directly signed in the form of coalition document.
In response to SBY's choice, Bima Arya Sugiarto, a political observer from Paramadina University, said Yudhoyono would have taken a courageous step if he really picked Central Bank Governor Boediono as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election.
Political observer from Paramadina University, Bima Arya Sugiarto, said here on Wednesday Yudhoyono's reported intention to pick Boediono was a courageous one because the central bank governor did not have any experience in politics.
According to him, Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party (PD) would have to work hard if Yudhoyono stuck to his plan to name Boediono as his running mate because the latter was not a favorite figure to pair with the former.
Arya said if Boediono was really named as Yudhoyono's running mate, the success team of the Democratic Party should take swift action to convince the public about the decision.
He added that the Democratic Party's success team should also explain it rationally to other political parties which were previously ready to coalesce with the democratic party.
"Boediono is the right match for SBY's criteria," Ikrar Nusa Bhakti from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said adding that Boediono would never become a competitor to SBY.
"He is quite mature, calm and has no political ambitions. Therefore, SBY prefers to choose him, as he feels secure with Boediono as his running mate who will never challenge him or present opposition to his presidency in the future," he said.
In addition, Ikrar stressed that Budiono?s appointment would actually serve to avoid conflicts among parties, particularly those in the coalition with the Democratic Party.
"We know those parties have their own candidates that are all eager to be SBY's running mate. Selecting one from any of these would have created another problem. They would envy each other," he said.
However, Ikrar opined that Yudhoyono's reason for choosing Boediono as his running mate was because the latter had high loyalty and international acceptability. ***
Jakarta, May 13 (ANTARA) - The Golkar Party has begun to eye the four political parties that aligned themselves with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno's Democratic Party (PD) but are now digruntled by Yudhoyono's intention to pick Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election.
The four parties are the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Syamsul Ma'arif, a Golkar Party associate chairman, said here on Wednesday his party would welcome the four parties and accommodate their aspirations if they support the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto pair in the presidential election to be held on July 8, 2009.
"If asked. what if one, two or three political parties want to cooperate with Golkar, I will say, you are welcome. But we are not in a position to persuade them to join us," Mu'arif said.
PKS, PAN, PKB and PPP had joined the Democratic Party (PD)-led coalition to support the incumbent president (Yudhoyono) in the hope he would select one of their leaders to second him in the presidential race.
With Yudhoyono intending to name Boediono as his running mate, the coalition between PD and the four parties is now about to fall apart as the latter have threatened to quit the alliance.
Deputy chairman of the PAN faction in the House of Representatives Djoko Susilo said apart from the fact that Boediono did not belong to any of the coalition parties, the choice was not in line with the tradition of choosing one Javanese and one non-Javanese candidate for the partnership.
Djoko also claimed Boediono's western neoliberal economic perspectives did not suit Indonesia. "We are suspicious of a possible American interference behind the decision (to pick Boediono)."
Meanwhile PPP Deputy Chairman Lukman Hakim said his party acknowledged SBY's right to name a vice-presidential running mate, but added that the president should have consulted it with the PD's coalition partners first.
"The first thing SBY needs to do now is clarify his decision to choose Boediono," he said.
Earlier, the Kalla-Wiranto pair were also present at a meeting of the four political parties in a hotel in Jakarta. Both were invited to the meeting, Ma'arif said, adding that he really appreciated the invitation to invite Kalla and Wiranto to the meeting.
The meeting of four political parties was held in their effort to respond to the emergence of Boediono as Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running mate for the upcoming presidential race.
According to Ma'arif, Golkar was in a position to wait and not to attract or persuade them to join his party.
"If until now the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto pair has yet to be registered at the General Election Commission, it is due to the fact that there is such an opportunity for other political parties to join us," he said.
Syamsul further stressed that at the meeting, it was said that their position in the coalition with the Democratic Party had yet to be formalized in a written document.
"Their coalition with the Democratic Party is only in the context of making statements but the four political parties' coalition was never formulated in the form of a document whereas the leader of each of the political parties should have signed it. Hence, there is a possibility for the four parties to change their stance," he said.
Syamsul compared his party's coalition with the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) which was directly signed in the form of coalition document.
In response to SBY's choice, Bima Arya Sugiarto, a political observer from Paramadina University, said Yudhoyono would have taken a courageous step if he really picked Central Bank Governor Boediono as his running mate for the upcoming presidential election.
Political observer from Paramadina University, Bima Arya Sugiarto, said here on Wednesday Yudhoyono's reported intention to pick Boediono was a courageous one because the central bank governor did not have any experience in politics.
According to him, Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party (PD) would have to work hard if Yudhoyono stuck to his plan to name Boediono as his running mate because the latter was not a favorite figure to pair with the former.
Arya said if Boediono was really named as Yudhoyono's running mate, the success team of the Democratic Party should take swift action to convince the public about the decision.
He added that the Democratic Party's success team should also explain it rationally to other political parties which were previously ready to coalesce with the democratic party.
"Boediono is the right match for SBY's criteria," Ikrar Nusa Bhakti from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said adding that Boediono would never become a competitor to SBY.
"He is quite mature, calm and has no political ambitions. Therefore, SBY prefers to choose him, as he feels secure with Boediono as his running mate who will never challenge him or present opposition to his presidency in the future," he said.
In addition, Ikrar stressed that Budiono?s appointment would actually serve to avoid conflicts among parties, particularly those in the coalition with the Democratic Party.
"We know those parties have their own candidates that are all eager to be SBY's running mate. Selecting one from any of these would have created another problem. They would envy each other," he said.
However, Ikrar opined that Yudhoyono's reason for choosing Boediono as his running mate was because the latter had high loyalty and international acceptability. ***
