The dilution of the major political coalition

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) does not cease to amaze - or perhaps shock - the public. This time, through a statement issued by one of its leaders, PKS voiced its concerns over the fact that Jusuf Kalla was closing the gap with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) with regard to popularity. This viewpoint was based on the results of the party's internal survey. The statement was come as a warning so that necessary measures could be made to counter the trend, accordingly.
The survey results implied that Islam was still an important factor in the presidential race - even though many Islamic parties suffered substantial losses in the parliamentary elections. According to the PKS survey, it appeared that the jilbab (Muslim head covering for women) issue served as the principal cause of Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto's increase in popularity.
Unlike the wives of Yudhoyono and Boediono, Kalla's and Wiranto's spouses wear the jilbab. This has attracted more and more party constituents, especially those at the grassroots level, which may eventually define their voting preferences. Should this religious sentiment persist, Yudhoyono's presidential candidacy could be in jeopardy, the PKS says.
Had the PKS not been in SBY-Boediono's camp, or had the party been in a neutral position, this would be seen as only a poll report. Unfortunately, the PKS is in a political partnership with the Democratic Party (PD), the party of SBY. In fact, the PKS is the largest coalition partner supporting Yudhoyono's bid for the presidency.
Disclosing the results of the survey publicly, and in a less favorable tone, has stirred speculation with regard to the PKS' motive. The fact that the PKS had lodged a couple of complaints previously, including Yudhoyono's choice of Boediono as running mate, such state-ments would only be perceived further attempts to bargain for more concessions.
Though one can generally question the ethical dimension of the issue, bargaining for more concessions is a common practice in politics. What is not so common is the PKS assertion that while the top brass of the party leadership remains supportive of Yudhoyono, there is no guarantee that its grassroots members will follow suit.
From the perspective of the Democratic Party's grand scale coalition, with around 23 political parties, the PKS maneuver reflects the not-so-assured nature of the partnership. This only confirms the ongoing perception that the coalition of such grandeur is like an amalgamation of buses with drivers but no passengers.
The PKS - and any other coalition partners for that matter - cannot be held entirely to blame. In a state that adopts a presidential system of government, a political coalition is quite unheard of.
A political coalition is only common in a parliamentarian system of government. Even so, it is limited to elite partnership to form a government with decent support in the parliament.
The Democratic Party did not actually need to form a coalition at this point, when the primary concern is to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidate.
Their electoral gain was more than enough to make Yudhoyono and Boediono become their candidates without the help of any other parties. The support of other parties would only be needed when Yudhoyono is ready to form a government.
Of course, this is not something the Democratic Party did not know. Perhaps the need to form a coalition of this magnitude (involving 23 parties) was driven by the need to psychologically boost their political standing, as well as to court their support - their constituents in particular - to win the presidential race.
There is a certain logic to such a viewpoint. Yet, the Democratic Party failed to realize -or did not want to know - the fact that party constituents do not have any obligation whatsoever to share the same voting preference as their leaders. In fact, even the rank and file of any given political party may have different political aspirations.
Should this be the case, the Democratic Party is actually facing a serious dilution of its coalition. The fact that each party involved in the coalition is aiming to get a better share of power or political concession - including certain Cabinet posts and the vice presidential position - as such, would only complicate the matter.

Tug of war between political parties and civil society

Never before in Indonesia’s modern political history have political parties been as attractive as they now are. They seem to have the same appeal that the bureaucracy had during Soeharto’s administration. At that time most educated people who had had the luxury of attending university — either at home or abroad — aspired to have a position in the government’s bureaucracy as their first option.
Now that political gravity has shifted from the executive body to the legislature, people have changed their minds. Members of parliament lead a good life on a very handsome income.
They also have a final say on many things — important and not so important, from the electability of presidential candidates to pornography legislation. A striking change of habit has occurred in the House: Its members have gone from saying nothing during the New Order to saying something about everything regardless of whether or not they really have something to say.
Because of that, political parties not only appear to be a breeding ground for would-be members of parliament, but also are perceived even more as a strategic stepping stone by which to jump to a legislative position. Businesspeople, professionals, academics, journalists and artists — all drift into political parties, though many of them do this just before legislative elections.
It is interesting to note that not all of them are party members who have risen from within the party ranks and then at a certain point in time are considered mature and experienced enough to assume political responsibility. Rather, they have aspired to a legislative position in the first place and then looked around for a political party to be their vehicle.
One wonders whether or not these people from outside are able to meet the minimum requirements to become legislators. If they do not have political training and experience, are not familiar with political problems, are short of political skills and know-how, how can they assume such an important role and such a big responsibility as that of representatives and spokespersons for their constituents?
Our concern is not whether the candidates recruited from outside the political parties are good enough or not, but rather what political parties do to generate human resources for political work. In this case, it seems, civil society is expected to educate people to become politically conscious individuals, who hopefully are committed to democratic values and are well equipped with the basic knowledge and skills that will enable them to embark upon a political career. Once they are ready, they can be recruited by political parties into political parties.
This seems to be the main reason why a number of civil society activists believe they can overstep political parties in the production and distribution of political human resources. The idea of nominating independent candidates during the executive election can be understood against this background.
People do not understand that political parties see themselves as a place where young citizens are exposed to the political world. Aristotle from ancient Greece still reminds us that no citizen can be mature enough unless he or she is actively involved in political affairs.
Analogically speaking, political parties assume the role of go-between in the transaction between the state and civil society. On the one hand, they enable the people to have access to and participation in state power by virtue of having their representatives speak on their behalf in negotiations with the state.
On the other hand, political parties become an institution that mediates between the interest of the people and that of the state. Legislation is a process whereby the interests of both sides are taken into account and regulated by force of law.
Needless to say that in such a negotiation there is always a sort of tug of war between the state and civil society. During the New Order administration the members of parliament did nothing but just approve and legalize whatever policy the executive body decided upon.
Ever since political reform in 1998, parliament has done its best to liberate itself from executive domination and has tried to become an independent body with its own autonomy and authority. In the meantime people expect that the change of habit and attitude within the parliament means its members will side more with civil society and speak out for civil rights as a constitutive element of democracy.
As it has turned out, expectations have not been met despite the fact that the parliament now has much more power than it ever did before. An unexpected situation has occurred: The parliament is liberated from executive domination but at the same time it has abandoned the civil society it represents. It has become a body preoccupied with itself and with the interests of its members.
It will take some time for the members of parliament to realize that the votes they get from civil society are not merely given to guarantee their victory in political competitions. More than that, the votes are a political deposit that people put in, from which they will require a corresponding interest that politicians will have to pay

The unwanted candidates

Upon observing coalition agreements made by the leaders of political parties, the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for July 8, will very likely be a three-horse race. But are the three presidential candidates and their running mates really who the Indonesian public want to see contesting?
The three presidential candidates are incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ,who has yet to announce a running mate, incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who will partner with Wiranto, and the camp led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who will most likely partner with Prabowo Subianto.
A good point in observing the presidential candidacy is the fact that the election will not be a one-man show, as had been feared previously by many. Eligible Indonesian voters will be given the opportunity and liberty to choose among the three available candidate pairs.
The question is, however, whether the three candidates - and their potential running mates - truly represent the interests and expectations of voters.
It has been interesting but also discouraging to monitor the maneuvers made by the candidates and to see who they have chosen as partners to contest the election.
The reasons provided by Jusuf Kalla for his choice of Wiranto as his running mate are trivial and difficult to accept in this era of modern leadership and management principles.
Kalla's argument that Wiranto was the perfect match Wiranto is a Javanese, which would complement Kalla who is non-Javanese; Wiranto has a military background, whereas Kalla has a civilian and business background, were understandable and could have benefited Kalla if he had run for the presidency during the New Order era, when the Java/non-Java and civilian/military dichotomies were prevalent. However, these days such traditional grounds should not be the key and determining factors any more, but shared interests and ideology.
Similar reasons would likely be adopted by Megawati in picking Prabowo as her running mate. It is true Megawati and Prabowo have yet to agree on the final combination of their partnership - whether Megawati will be the presidential candidate and Prabowo the vice presidential candidate, or if Prabowo will be the presidential candidate and a senior official from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle /PDIP will be Prabowo's running mate.
However, one thing is certain: Megawati and Kalla's choices of running mates for the July 8 election were both made with the same goal - to beat Yudhoyono.
Yudhoyono, whose Democratic Party will very likely top the April 9 legislative election tally, has been relatively quiet and passive in maneuvering to establish a coalition ahead of the presidential election. However, the fact that there are only Islamic parties for it to form a coalition with is no advantage for PD, a centrist party.
The three presidential candidates and their partners are already on the election menu. They have the constitutional right to contest the election, but in the end it is the Indonesian voters or to be more precise the eventual voter turnout that will decide whether one of them will be triumphant enough to be declared the winner.

Who vice Presidential candidates for SBY...........?

Democratic Party` Associate Chairman Ruhut Sitompul announced here on Saturday a plan to declare the party`s presidential and vice presidential candidates has been postponed from May 11 to May 15.

The plan for the declaration has been postponed from May 11 to May 15, waiting for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to come back from attending the World Ocean Conference to be held in Manado. Because as the president, his schedule is very tight. He prioritizes the state`s tasks," Ruhut Sitompul said after a Democratic Party Executive Board meeting held at SBY`s private residence at Cikeas, Bogor, Friday evening.

The declaration would be done in Bandung, West Java Province.

There, we will announce the name of the vice presidential candidate and our coalition. All friendly political parties will be invited, he said.

After the declaration , the Democratic Party will register officially its presidential and vice presidential candidates with the General Elections Commission on May 16, or the deadlines of the presidential and vice presidential candidate registration, he said.

The registration will be conducted after the declaration. So, it would probably be the last one, he said.

Sitompul did not deny when asked whether the postponement was because his party was waiting for a response from the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle /PDIP to a coalition offer.

He said t the Democratic Party had held several meetings with Taufik Kiemas, chairman of the PDIP`s advisory board.

We understand the position of PDIP and Mrs. Megawati. She was a former president, is a stateswoman and the leader of a major political party. Therefore, we understand and will wait. The Democratic Party is patiently waiting for PDIP. We understand each other. As a matter of fact, we want everybody to be happy. We want to have victory without hurting any body, he said.

In the PD`s executive board meeting, Ruhut Sitompul also reported that his party would have 147 seats in the new Parliament

Kalla and Wiranto pair optimistic to win presidential election

Vice Secretary General of Golkar party`s executive board Iskandar Mandji admitted he was optimistic that Kalla,Wiranto pair would be able to win the upcoming presidential election in July, this year.

I am sure this pair will be able to achieve victory in the election, he said at his party`s office in Slipi, Jakarta, on Friday.

Iskandar made the statement on the sidelines of the Kalla-Wiranto declaration which was previously reported to find difficulty in picking Kalla`s running mate for the upcoming presidential election.

Asked about the reason why Golkar picked Wiranto as Kalla`s running mate, Iskandar said at least there was a similarity in chemistry.

And besides, both Golkar and the People`s Conscience Party / Hanura give priority to the interest of the nation, he said.

In addition, he added, there was also similarity in platform particularly in building the nationbal economy.

KPU ON TIME …….?

The General Elections Commission/KPU will announce the results of the recent legislative and regional representative elections on time, namely on May 9 at the latest, a KPU member said.

KPU member Endang Sulastri said here on Tuesday the election body was expected to announce the numbers of votes and seats in the House won by the electoral contestants during the April 9, 2009 legislative elections as scheduled.

Sulastri made the statement in response to a question on the possibility that the announcement of the final results of the elections would be delayed.

This is due to the fact that a number of vote recapitulations in a number of provinces had not yet been approved and had to be rediscussed.

In the meantime, recapitulations in a number of provinces had not yet been discussed in a plenary meeting of the KPU.

Based in Law No. 10 / 2008 on Legislative Elections, the KPU is required to announce the national results of the elections 30 days at the latest after the polls are conducted.

We hope that we will finish the calculation and announce the the numbers of votes and seats (won by political parties) on May 9, 2009 at the latest. The number of votes and seats will serve as a reference on the requirement for political parties or a coalition of parties to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates

She said that the KPU would do its best to finish the vote recapitulation on time because it had a tight election schedule where the president- and vice president-elect will be installed on October 20, 2009.

Up to Tuesday, the KPU had finished vote recapitulations on 25 provinces, 57 electoral districts, namely the provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Banten, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Northeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo and West Sulawesi

Why Wiranto meet Megawati ..........?

Presidential hopeful Muhammad Jusuf Kalla and his running mate Wiranto came to Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle/PDIP leader Megawati Soekarnoputri`s residence on Friday afternoon for political talks with the latter.

Jusuf Kalla, chairman of the Golkar Party and Wiranto, chairman of the People`s Conscience /Hanura Party, arrived at Megawati`s residence together in a VW car.
PDIP Advisory Board chairman Taufiq Kiemas, Megawati`s husband, greeted Kalla and Wiranto after they had stepped out of their car.

Kalla and Kiemas shook hands and rubbed cheeks, and so did Wiranto and Kiemas who was accompanied by PDIP secretary general Pramono Anung and PDIP executive Panda Nababan.

On the occasion, Kalla was accompanied by Golkar secretary general Sumarsono, Golkar executives Burhanuddin Napitupulu and Aksa Mahmud, while Wiranto came with Hanura secretary general Yus Usman.

Kalla`s meeting with Megawati would be the first since he and Wiranto declared they would run for president and vice president respectively in the July 8 election.

For Jusuf Kalla, the meeting with Megawati would be his fourth since the process of the general elections 2009.

Jusuf Kalla, Wirantao, Megawati Soekarnoputri, and Prabowo Subianto (chairman of Gerinda Party) and some other political parties recently signed an agreement to form a grand coalition in Parliament.

The party leaders said in a joint statement that the so-called grand coalition was aimed at strengthening political cooperation in the national and regional parliaments.

They rejected suggestions the pact was a move to gang up on Yudhoyono.
Parties or coalitions of parties that win at least 20 percent of the seats in the 560 member House of Representatives or 2.5 per cent of the popular vote may nominate candidates for the July 8 presidential election.

KOMENTAR GUSDUR SOAL PILEG 2009

Banyak sekali komentar yang tidak puas terhadap pelaksanan pemilu legislatif yang di selenggarakan 9 april lalu, kekecewaan banyak datang dari partai yang kalah dan legislatif yang gagal meraih kursi sebagai anggota dewan, bahkan beberapa partai sepakat untuk menggugat KPU atas kekisruhan seputar pilleg tersebut.
Tak mau ketinggalan mantan presiden RI KH. Abdurahman Wahid yang akrab di sapa Gusdur pun ikut berkomentar. ini petikan komentar gusdur yang di muat oleh kompas tanggal 14 april 2009 sbb:

Mantan Presiden KH Abdurrahman Wahid atau Gus Dur menilai, pelaksanaan Pemilu Legislatif pada 9 April 2009 lalu amburadul. Hal itu dikatakan Gus Dur dalam jumpa pers bersama sejumlah pimpinan parpol seusai pertemuan di kediaman Megawati, Jalan Teuku Umar, Jakarta Pusat, Selasa (14/4).

"Pemilunya amburadul karena sejak semula pemerintahannya enggak bener," ujar Gus Dur. "Kita lihat saja apa lama-lama penolakan semakin menggunung terhadap pemilu kemarin," lanjut dia.

Para tokoh dan pimpinan parpol juga sepakat bahwa penyelenggaraan pemilu legislatif kali ini adalah terburuk sepanjang pelaksanaan pemilu era reformasi.

Gus Dur juga mengatakan, kekacauan pemilu sudah diperkirakan sebelumnya dengan melihat pelaksanaan Pilkada Jawa Timur beberapa bulan lalu. "Beberapa bulan lalu, di Pilgub Jatim ada kecurangan, dan kita lihat pemilu kita tidak akan jujur," kata Gus Dur.

Putri Gus Dur, Yenny Wahid, menambahkan, ketidakberesan juga ditunjukkan dengan DPT di Jawa Timur pada pemilu legislatif sama dengan DPT pada saat pilkada. "Padahal, banyak manipulasi dalam DPT itu, seperti banyak pemilih yang digandakan sampai ribuan kali. Ada kecurangan yang luar biasa di sini," ujar Yenny, yang belakangan memberikan dukungan penuh kepada Partai Gerindra.

BANYAK ARTIS YANG SUKSES MENDULANG SUARA

Mungkin dengan ketenaranya di dunia entertain sehingga banyak fans atau terkenal sehingga para artis yang menjadi caleg banyak yang jadi, tetapi ada juga yang tidakmendapatkan suara yang begitu signifikan, seperti halnya artikel tentang artis nurul arifin yang dimuat kompas.com seperti di bawah ini :

Perolehan suara para artis dalam Pemilihan Umum Legislatif 2009 ini memang terlihat tidak terlalu signifikan. Tak banyak artis yang berhasil menuai suara besar, meski mereka terbilang tenar.

Dari perolehan suara sementara yang dirilis Pusat Tabulasi Nasional Pemilu 2009, pukul 15.24, terlihat memang ada artis yang sukses mengumpulkan suara, tapi lebih banyak yang terbilang biasa-biasa saja.

Bintang film seksi di era 1980-an, Nurul Arifin, menjadi salah satu di antara sedikit artis yang sukses mendulang suara. Di dapil Jabar 7, Nurul berhasil mendapatkan suara signifikan sebanyak 949 suara.

Kesuksesan Nurul ini pun lebih luar biasa jika melihat pada data perolehan suara yang menggambarkan bahwa Partai Golkar yang diusungnya kalah jauh dalam perolehan suara dibanding Partai Demokrat. Namun toh, perolehan suara Nurul tetap lebih unggul dibanding caleg-caleg lainnya.

Sementara seperti yang telah diberitakan sebelumnya, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, yang terakhir sukses memerankan tokoh Oneng dalam serial Bajaj Bajuri, pun tetap sukses dalam pengumpulan suaranya. Caleg PDI-P dari dapil Jabar 2 ini berhasil unggul, padahal Partai Demokrat yang merajai perolehan suara di dapilnya.

Lebih "wah" lagi, "Oneng" untuk sementara berhasil mengungguli salah satu ikon PDI-P, Taufik Kiemas, yang tak lain adalah suami dari Ketua Umum PDI-P Megawati Soekarnoputri. Rieke sejauh ini sudah mendapat 427 suara.

Namun, selebihnya di daerah lain caleg-caleg artis sepertinya tak sesukses Rieke dan Nurul. Bintang film asal Betawi yang menjadi caleg PAN, Mandra dari dapil DKI Jakarta 1, caleg Gerindra Rachel Maryam dari dapil Jabar 2, caleg PDI-P Dedy "Miing" Gumilar dari dapil Banten 1, serta caleg PDI-P Sonny Tulung dari dapil Sultra 1 tidak memperoleh suara yang terlalu signifikan.

Sementara untuk suara keseluruhan, perolehan suara sementara pada pukul 15.48 menunjukkan, Demokrat masih unggul, diikuti PDI-P dan Golkar yang perolehan suaranya berbeda tipis.

AMBURADULNYA PEMILU .........BUKTI GAGALNYA KPU

Kesemrawutan dan karut-marutnya penyelenggaraan Pemilu Legislatif 2009 dapat berpotensi menjadi bumerang bagi calon presiden Partai Demokrat Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, yang saat ini menjabat sebagai Presiden, pada Pemilu Presiden dan Wakil Presiden 2009.

Salah satu isu yang mencuat pada pemilu legislatif adalah kisruhnya daftar pemilih tetap (DPT), yang dasar pembuatannya berasal dari data Departemen Dalam Negeri. Ada spekulasi terjadi penggelembungan suara di wilayah basis Demokrat dan penggembosan di wilayah yang bukan basis Demokrat. Kalau betul, ini merupakan kecurangan sistematis.

"Jika isu ini yang muncul, ini bisa menjatuhkan citra pemerintahan SBY-JK sebagai pihak yang bertanggung jawab terhadap pelaksanaan pemilu," ujar pengamat politik LIPI, Ikrar Nusa Bakti, sebelum seminar Tantangan Kebijakan Pengelolaan Wilayah Maritim Indonesia yang diselenggarakan Institute for Defense Security and Peace Studies (IDSPS), Selasa (14/4) di Jakarta.

Menurut Ikrar, pemerintah dan Menteri Dalam Negeri tidak bisa begitu saja lepas tangan dan melimpahkan kesalahan terhadap KPU. Ditambahkan, logisnya, isu ini dipastikan menjadi salah satu hal yang akan dikemukakan oleh rival SBY.

Demikian yang di lansir oleh kompas menunjuakan bahwa pemilu legislatif yang semrawut merupakan kegagalan KPU dan yang bertanggung jawaba adalah SBY dan MJK