Jakarta, June 20 (Antara) - The fact that the Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS) was not invited in a meeting of parties in government coalition on
Tuesday last week indicated that PKS had been sidelined from the
coalition.
Yet, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his capacity as the chairman
of the Joint Secretariat of Parties in Coalition (Setgab) so far has
not yet made any statement with regard to the membership status of PKS
in the coalition.
PKS Deputy Secretary General Fahri Hamzah said his party was waiting
for the President's decision with regard to the news that PKS had been
excluded from the coalition.
"We leave the PKS status to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
decide," Fahri said during the launch of O.C. Kaligis autobiography book
on Wednesday.
Secretary of the coalition's joint secretariat Syarif Hasan, who is
also cooperatives and small enterprise minister, has earlier said that
PKS had been excluded from the coalition.
On Wednesday last week, Fahri said the Palace had told one of PKS's
ministers that PKS had been pulled out of the coalition. "Yes, we have
been told that PKS has been excluded from the coalition," Fahri said.
He said the coalition was formed by President Yudhoyono. It was the
president who had to decide the status of a party's membership in the
coalition. He said that PKS was now waiting for the follow-up of the
Palace's verbal notification.
"He (President Yudhoyono) has to talk to us. Up to now, he remains
silent," Fahri said adding that any party, including the Setgab, should
not interfere in a decision made by the President about the matter.
The
other PKS deputy secretary general, Mahfudz Siddiq, shared Fahri's
opinion that the President should make a statement about the PKS status
in the coalition. In response to Syarif Hasan who firmly stated that PKS
had been excluded from the Setgab, Mahfudz said PKS would first hear a
statement from President Yudhoyono who is the chairman of the
coalition's joint secretariat.
"The Setgab chairman is Pak (Mr) SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono). We are waiting for his statement" he said.
He said that in PKS opinion, statements on its exclusion from the
Setgab are a form pressures on the President to expel it from the
coalition, if the statements were not made by the President himself.
"This
is an old story. Even two weeks ago, before the House plenary approves
the Bill on Draft Revised 2013 State Budget, there have been hard
statements asking for the exclusion of PKS from the coalition," he said.
The
government was determined to increase subsidized fuel oil prices while
waiting for the approval by the House of the draft revised state
budget. However, PKS rejected the government's plan, regardless of its
status as a member of the government's coalition.
On
Tuesday (June 11), a week before the House approved the government's
draft revised budget last Monday, President Yudhoyono held a meeting
with political parties grouped in the government's coalition. But in the
meeting, PKS was not invited.
The executive chairman of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) Syarif Hasan
said that political parties in the government coalition were
disappointed by the PKS attitude which rejected the government's
strategic policy on subsidized fuel price hike plan.
He said that the government would raise the fuel prices as part of its
efforts to safeguard national economy. Syarif said PKS was not invited
as an expression of disappointment of parties in coalition over the PKS
attitude.
Syarif said the matter was discussed in the coalition meeting which was
chaired by the President at the Jakarta Convention Center on Tuesday
last week.
The meeting also discussed the country's economic development and
efforts to secure the state budget policy and the draft revised 2013
state budget which was expected to be approved by the House.
"We also discussed the PKS stance on the fuel oil price hike plan. The
coalition was disillusioned. In a current strategic situation to
safeguard Indonesia's economy, we should be in one voice. But PKS turns
out to be different from us. Of course the coalition is greatly
disappointed," he said.
Political analyst Asep Saeful Muhtadi of the Sunan Gunung Djati State
Islamic University said PKS rejection of the government's plan was only a
strategy and image building to increase its electability.
The party is not honest and is unethical in rejecting the plan. It
gave freedom to its cadres in the government to support the government
policy but its cadres in the House staged a 'drama' as if they were
serious in rejecting fuel price hikes.
PKS has three ministers in the House, namely Social Affairs Minister
Salim Segaf Al Jufri, Communications and Informatics Minister Tifatul
Sembiring and Agriculture Minister Suswono.
Actually, according to Asep, they have the calculation that the
decision to approve or not revised budget in the House plenary would be
made through a voting mechanism. They were aware that their votes plus
the votes from the other opposition sides would be defeated in the
voting.
PKS President Anis Matta said his party's rejection of the government's
plan to raise fuel prices by no means had a political motive.
"I
regret the various sides who raise this issue beyond the academic
analysis of the economy," Anis Matta said in a press statement made
available to Antara on Saturday.
PKS
Deputy Secretary General Mahfudz Siddiq said PKS stance to reject the
plan was in accordance with the decision of the party's Majelis Suro
(law-making body). "PKS is already on the right track," he said.
However, he said that ministers who were PKS cadres were under the
President and thus should support the government's policy.
It was earlier reported that former PKS president Hidayat Nurwahid had
made a statement which in principle left it to the President whether to
sack the three PKS ministers.
Presidential Special Staff for Communications and Information Heru
Lelono said that it was PKS itself which proposed its cadres to be
named ministers.
So, logically, it was the party that should fire the ministers as its
cadres if they were no longer in line with the party policy.
"President
Yudhoyono never questioned the political parties of his ministers. He
treats his cabinet ministers as one team," Heru said.***1***
(T.A014/f001 )
(T.SYS/A/A. Abdussalam/F. Assegaf) 20-06-2013 13 |
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