WILL SBY-JK PAIR CONTINUE IN 2009 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION?

Jakarta, Feb 11 (ANTARA) - Whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla (SBY-JK) are to maintain their coalition in the presidential race next July has now become a hot political issue, due in part to a controversial statement by an executive of Yudhoyono's Democrat Party (PD).

        In the statement, Democrat Party associate chairman Ahmad Mubarok had said his party had not yet decided to accept Kalla as Yudhohono's running mate in the presidential election because Kalla's Golkar Party was predicted to win only 2.5 percent of the votes in the legislative election in April.

        The statement which sparked reactions from both President Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla may add fuel to many Golkar Party cadres' wish to see their party make a bid for the presidency, instead of just the vice presidency.

        Victus Murin, a young politician in the communications and information department of the Golkar Party's executive board, said on Wednesday, Mubarok's statement had in psycho-political sense ruined the SBY-JK partnership.

        Kalla who was visiting the Netherlands in his reaction said the statement was a 'nightmare'. "The person who said that Golkar will only be able to collect 2.5 percent of the votes in the upcoming legislative election knows nothing about Golkar," he said.

        Meanwhile, Yudhoyono, in his capacity as chairman of the Democrat Party's Advisory Council, said he had reprimanded Ahmad Mubarok over the derisive statement, suggesting it had probably been a 'slip of the tongue'.

        Mubarok had made the statement during a two-day meeting of the Democrat Party leadership opened last Sunday.

        Yudhoyono said his party had not intended to underestimate the Golkar Party with Mubarok's statement. He said it was understandable that Mubarok's statement had caused Golkar Party cadres to become emotional and feel bad.

        "In my capacity as chairman of the Democrat Party's advisory board I wish to give my response to it officially. The Democrat Party has never thought of trying to undermine the Golkar Party. It has never had such an intention or thought of doing so," he said.

        Yudhoyono said the Golkar Party was a close friend of the Democrat Party and relations between the two parties' members had always been good.

        He said he had taken Mubarok to task for his controversial statement which was made without the party's knowledge.

        However, Viktus Murin said, by his statement, Mubarok had not only underestimated Golkar but also psycho-politically harmed the cohesion of the national leadership.

        Mubarok's statement, according to Murin, had distorted the relations between Golkar and the Democrat Party at a time when the term of their shared administration was about to expire.

        "Mubarok violated common political ethics (fatsoen) as his statement reflects an improper and excessive prejudice against his own party's partner in running the government," Murin said.

        The Democrat Party, during its two-day leadership meeting, avoided discussions on or naming somebody to serve as Yudhoyono's running mate in the July presidential election.

        Political experts were quick to suggest that the Democrat Party intended to break with Golkar if it secured 20 percent of the seats for grabs in the April legislative election.

        "Like it or not, Golkar should name its candidate for the presidential slot," political scientist Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

        Meanwhile, senior politician and former Golkar Party leader Akbar Tanjung said the party which used to be the former New Order's political machine should nominate its own presidential candidate.

        "It would encourage and make our cadres proud if the party has its own presidential candidate. On the other hand, if Golkar, the winner of the 2004 legislative election, lacks the confidence to name its own prudential hopeful, the party's internal conditions will be negatively affected," Tanjung said.

        Meanwhile, Golkar Party Vice Chairman Agung Laksono said the party would name its own presidential and vice presidential candidates for the election this year.

        "I can assure the public that Golkar will come up with its own candidates," he said after a discussion at the party headquarters here on Tuesday.

        He said he had to clarify the matter in response to public doubts or a public perception that Golkar lacked the courage to enter its own candidates in the presidential race next July. .

        Laksono said discussions on who would be named candidates by the party would be held after the implementation of legislative elections on April 9. The forum for it would be a special national party leadership meeting.

        He however also said that a national party leadership meeting might be held before the implementation of the legislative elections to collect names eligible for nomination as the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates.

        On Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla's recent statement suggesting that Golkar's target was the vice presidential post in a coalition with (President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's) Democrat Party, Laksono said it was "just a mere idea." "It is just a mere idea and not an official party decision," he said. ***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/19:10/a014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 11-02-2009 19:22:47