PKS Keeps Mum on Veep

Thejakartaglobe

PKS Keeps Mum on Veep

If the Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, has any designs on the vice presidency given the rumored parting of ways between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, then the Islam-based party is keeping its cards close to its chest.

Mahfudz Siddiq, chairman of the PKS faction in the House of Representatives, told state news agency Antara that its coalition talks with Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party were still ongoing and that any decision on Yudhoyono’s No. 2 would be for the president to decide.

He also hinted that the ideal vice presidential candidate should not chair a political party, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the upcoming government, a clear reference to Kalla, the current chairman of the Golkar Party.

The PKS has stated several times that it would consider withdrawing from any coalition if Yudhoyono again chose Kalla as his running mate.

The latest comments from Mahfudz could also be an indication that the PKS is willing to consider a technocrat for vice president, raising the political prospects of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Mahfudz, speaking during a doorstop interview at the General Elections Commission office, said the PKS expected to reach a mutual agreement with the Democratic Party in the near future. “We hope that [further talks] will take place before April 25 since we have a meeting of the PKS consultative assembly on that day. We of course hope that nothing will interfere with this discussion,” he said, according to Antara.

The discussions would focus on issues, rather than the vice president, he said. “The PKS will leave it fully to Yudhoyono to name his candidate for vice president. Especially since he had already set forth five criteria [for vice president],” he said. “If you ask if PKS has a candidate that answers all the criteria, we do have someone who can meet the first four. But as to the fifth criterion on ‘chemistry,’ or personal compatibility, only Yudhoyono can tell.”
The government said on Wednesday that it was preparing a regulation in lieu of law, or perpu , to cover the possibility of the nomination of only one presidential candidate for the July presidential election.



Denny Indrayana, a legal adviser to the Office of the President, said the government would be ready on Wednesday to issue the perpu if it was needed.

He said the plan was in anticipation of a power vacuum.

According to the law, if there is only one presidential candidate, the election should be delayed.

“We cannot delay the election because, by Oct. 20, we should have a new president,” Denny said.

However, he said the perpu would only be issued in an emergency situation. “We will watch the progress,” he said. “We are optimistic there will be more than one presidential candidate and the perpu will not be necessary.”

“If it is needed and the General Elections Commission [KPU] requests it, the president, who is responsible, will issue it.”

Denny said drafting of the perpu had not yet started but the contents had already been planned.

Several political parties have met in recent days with possible presidential candidate Megawati Sukarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, to discuss inaccuracies in the voter lists. The parties have threatened to boycott the July election by not nominating any presidential candidates.

Abdul Hafiz Anshary, chairman of the KPU, said on Wednesday that a perpu would make the work of the commission easier, should it be required.

“It will be better for us if the government issues a perpu in the case of only one presidential candidate,” he said.

Hafiz said the commission itself had discussed several options if there was only presidential candidate, but he refused to elaborate. “We haven’t decided anything yet so we cannot make any announcements now,” he said. “But if the government issues a perpu, we will refer to it. It will make our work easier. We only do what the law dictates.”

The perpu plan brought criticism from some lawmakers. Mahfudz Siddiq from the Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, said it was too early to consider such an idea. “The KPU and the government should not worry about something that has not yet happened,” he said.

Rather than anticipating a problem, the KPU should attempt to solve the problems that arose from the April 9 legislative elections, such as the inaccurate voter lists, he said.

Mahfudz said members of the House of Representative had not yet considered the perpu idea.

“I think the KPU is just panicking and they think the perpu is a way out,” he said.

PDI-P lawmaker Eka Santosa said a perpu should be issued only in an emergency.

“I don’t see any reason why the government should issue a perpu for a single presidential candidate,” he said. “A perpu should be issued in an emergency and should be based on academic analysis and executed with the proper procedures.”

Despite the government’s authority to issue a perpu, the regulation must be approved by the House of Representatives.

Hadar Gumay, chairman of the Center for Electoral Reform, or Cetro, also criticized the plan.

However, he said it was “an awkward situation, given that there is a possibility that the incumbent is the only presidential candidate.”