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Parties continue pointing fingers over Nov. 4 rally
Jakarta Post - November 15, 2016
Politicians and members of the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) endorsed the rally and, in fact, participated in the street protest, which ended in violence and looting.
The rally attracted about 100,000 people from various Muslim groups who demanded Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama be prosecuted on blasphemy charges.
"[We're] disappointed [with the three parties]. Although it's their constitutional right, their political stance is questionable. [They] seem to be inconsistent," PDI-P executive Eva Kusuma Sundari said on Monday.
Although at the national level, the three Islamic-based political parties are members of the ruling coalition, in the Jakarta gubernatorial election they all back the ticket of Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and Sylviana Murni, who were nominated by the Democratic Party. Agus is the oldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is chairman of the Democratic Party.
The PDI-P, together with Golkar, the NasDem Party and Hanura, nominated incumbent Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat.
Eva said that a local election, like the Jakarta 2017 gubernatorial election, should not put the ruling coalition at risk and warned politicians from parties in the coalition to maintain ethics.
Earlier, the Golkar Party expressed disappointment over the three parties' maneuvering. The chairman of Golkar's board of experts, Agung Laksono, who is also its former deputy chairman, questioned the motives of the three parties.
Agung also recommended that Golkar set up a "joint secretariat" to consolidate the coalition's members, just like the one formed during Yudhoyono's administration.
"We need a monitoring body to watch how we conduct ourselves in the field. We must be loyal and critical. If [any government parties] decline to meet their commitment, then we should just remove them [from the coalition]," Agung said during the Golkar meeting, which was also attended by party leaders, including party chairman Setya Novanto and advisory board chairman Aburizal Bakrie.
The three political parties balked at the proposal, saying that their participation in the rally had nothing to do with their position in the government coalition.
"The rally was not aimed at attacking the government. It had nothing to with any political party, but was motivated by the demand to start a legal process against Ahok. We didn't see any flags or banners flown by any political parties, did we?" PAN secretary-general Eddy Soeparno said.
PPP secretary-general Arsul Sani said the proposal to have a coalition secretariat should come from the group's leader, the PDI-P.
"If Golkar wants to realize the proposal, we all must ask the PDI-P because the party is the leader of the ruling coalition, while Golkar is new to the coalition," Arsul said.
Many considered the Joint Secretariat of the Coalition Parties under Yudhoyono only as a conduit for parties to engage in negotiations to gain politically and financially, which could lead to corruption.
Political expert Siti Zuhro of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said even if Jokowi decided to set up a joint secretariat, it would be very different than the one under Yudhoyono, given that the current President is not a chairman of any political party.
But Siti suggested that Jokowi only needed to communicate more with members in his coalition. "They need direct communications with the President, not with the PDI-P, because now the President is the unifying figure," Siti said.
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