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Dems plot to win MPR speakership position
Jakarta Post - October 4, 2014
Earlier this week, Democratic Party lawmaker Agus Hermanto was voted to be a House deputy speaker, with the Golkar Party's Setya Novanto as the new speaker and the Gerindra Party's Fadli Zon, the Prosperous Justice Party's (PKS) Fahri Hamzah and National Mandate Party's (PAN) Taufik Kurniawan as the three other deputies.
With that result, the camp of Prabowo Subianto, the loser of the July 9 presidential election, swept the House leadership posts out from under the coalition of parties supporting president-elect Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, which is led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The Democratic Party politicians touted to be strong candidates for the MPR speakership are the former leader of the party's House faction, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, and party executive chairman Syariefuddin "Syarief" Hasan.
Hasrul Azwar, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), which is a member of the Red-and-White Coalition, confirmed that the "Democratic Party was most likely to get the seat", with Nurhayati and Syarief as two of the strongest candidates.
Golkar Party deputy chairman Agung Laksono also confirmed the seat "could be allocated for either the Democratic Party or the Gerindra Party".
The MPR leadership selection has been postponed until next Monday after being initially scheduled for Thursday, adding an extra three days for both camps to lobby for support.
The three-day break, however, could allow the Democratic Party to switch sides in the race for MPR speakership. Syarief was non-committal when asked on Friday about his chances in the race. "[We] do not know yet."
Agus, the newly installed deputy House speaker from the Democratic Party, also said the party has yet to decide on its candidate.
Responding to a question about whether the Democratic Party would stay in the Red-and-White Coalition, Agus hinted his party could jump ship. "We'll see; politics is dynamic," Agus said.
Other members of the Red-and-White Coalition have also said that they could accept the MPR leadership being controlled by the PDI-P-led coalition.
"It [allocating the MPR speaker seat to the Democratic Party] is only a plan. We will make a final decision tomorrow night [Saturday]," said Fadli Zon of the Gerindra Party.
Fadli said that executives of the parties under the Red-and-White Coalition would have another round of meetings to decide their strategy for the election of the MPR speaker.
Jokowi's coalition had run short by one party to be able to nominate its candidate for the House speaker and deputy speakers, following the collapse of a plan to forge a political coalition between Yudhoyono and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Some PDI-P politicians have said that Megawati, through her representatives, had demanded on Wednesday that Yudhoyono first support the PDI-P coalition's bid for House leadership in order to regain her trust. Yudhoyono, however, had turned down the request.
Yet, the prospect of a reconciliation was once again on the table after Yudhoyono issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on Thursday night, in a bid to annul the newly passed regional election law, which is supported by the Red-and-White Coalition.
Hasrul of the PPP hinted on Friday that the Jokowi camp might have a chance to win the MPR leadership, saying that "in politics anything can happen".
Arie Sudjito, a political analyst from Gadjah Mada University, said that once again Yudhoyono showed off his craft as a formidable kingmaker. "The nature of the Democratic Party is to be a kingmaker. They will do any maneuvers, including some that are not so courteous," he said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/10/04/dems-plot-win-mpr-speakership-position.html.
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