The Prosperous Justice Party is considering leaving the ruling coalition led by the Democratic Party, party lawmaker Sohibul Imam said on Tuesday.
Sohibul said a decision on the Islam-inspired party’s place in the coalition would be made by the party’s consultative council (Majelis Syuro). He said there had been no discussion on the matter at last month’s council meeting.
“If in the future there are plans to leave the coalition, then go ahead. But this has to be taken to the Majelis Syuro meeting,” Sohibul said on Tuesday. “As of today, I have not received [notice of] a meeting of the assembly to discuss the matter.”
Sohibul said the party’s central committee, faction officers, advisory board and Syuro Assembly meet weekly, but it is unlikely that the coalition issue would be discussed in such a forum.
Last month, a legislator from the party, known as PKS, urged it to leave the coalition led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“I am among those who oppose SBY’s leadership. I really want this party to leave the coalition,” Fahri Hamzah said in Jakarta on May 22.
But Fahri said his view was merely a personal desire, and the decision could only be made by authorized members of the party.
PKS has for more than a year opposed the ruling party’s plan to increase subsidized fuel prices for owners of private cars.
Andi Rahmat, the PKS deputy chair of the House Commission XI, which oversees finance, said the party would continue to oppose the policy even if it meant the party was labelled rebellious by other members of the six-party coalition.
“Being [called] rebellious is nothing new for PKS. If PKS’s move to oppose the fuel price increase is deemed a violation of the coalition’s policy, then that is not true,” Andi said in Surabaya, where a briefing for the party’s 1,749 legislative candidates for East Java was held on Monday.
Andi said the party’s refusal to support the fuel price increase was consistent with the attitude of the public.
“In the coalition, the PKS is taking the critical stance. We cannot always support the policy without being critical,” he said.
Andi said the PKS had proposed using its right of inquiry in the legislature during a 2005 debate on rice imports, but it was outvoted. The same year, the party agreed to a fuel price increase, and did so again in 2007.
Yudhoyono’s Democrats rely on the support of five other parties, each of whom hold votes in the House of Representatives and have gained ministerial posts. The parties come from both the nationalist and religious strands of Indonesian politics, making it difficult for the president to craft a position satisfying all of them on some policy questions.
The parties include the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Golkar Party.
by: Markus Hunianto Sihaloho
source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/pks-mulls-withdrawal-from-ruling-coalition/
