Cohesion of Coalition Disturbed

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The leaders of all the political parties belonging to the Jokowi-Amin coalition need to get together with Jokowi to alleviate ripples inside their coalition.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Political moves by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and Nasdem Party chairman Surya Paloh this week are a sign of ripples inside the coalition of parties supporting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin. To overcome the tension that could complicate Jokowi\'s political position, other political parties from the Jokowi-Amin coalition are encouraged to immediately hold a joint meeting with Megawati to consolidate the coalition.

The internal dynamics of the Jokowi-Amin coalition, especially between Megawati and Surya Paloh, was touched upon by House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, who is from the Golkar Party, during a closing plenary session of the fifth session period of 2018-2019 at the DPR complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (25/7/2019).
Bambang read out his speech as a poem: “Walau antara Teuku Umar dan Gondangdia tak sepanjang Anyer dan Jakarta. Walau ada dua pertemuan berbeda, semoga tak memisahkan para pemimpin kita.” (Although (the distance) between Teuku Umar and Gondangdia is not as long as that between Anyer and Jakarta, the two meetings are not expected to separate our leaders.)
Gondangdia is the location of the Nasdem Party’s central executive board (DPP) office. It is the place where Surya Paloh, on 22 July, received the chairmen of three other political parties of the Jokowi-Amin coalition, namely Golkar, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP). After the meeting, which was not attended by representatives from the PDI-P, it was stated that there was no need to admit more political parties to the Jokowi-Amin coalition.
Meanwhile, Teuku Umar is the name of the street where Megawati\'s house is located. At that place Megawati welcomed Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto on 24 July. In the meeting, Megawati signaled future cooperation with Prabowo and his party, even though Gerindra had opposed the PDI-P and other parties of the Jokowi-Amin coalition in the 2019 election.
On the very day of the Megawati-Prabowo meeting, Surya Paloh received Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan at the NasDem’s DPP office. After the meeting, Surya Paloh expressed support for a possible presidential candidacy of Anies.
Internal dynamics
With regard to the dynamics in the Jokowi-Amin coalition, the deputy chairman of the Jokowi-Amin national campaign team, Moeldoko, noted that politics was a very dynamic field. Therefore, any expectations, for example that the party set-up of the Jokowi-Amin coalition would not change, were premature.
However, Moeldoko said he believed the Jokowi-Amin coalition was solid. "So far, we still fully believe that the coalition being built is good enough, even if it should be a plus-plus coalition," he said, alluding to the possibility of new members joining the Jokowi-Amin coalition.
PKB deputy secretary-general Jazilul Fawaid said that, to consolidate the ranks and end any speculation, the five chairpersons of the political parties supporting the Jokowi-Amin coalition should meet as soon as possible to discuss the coalition\'s future.
The meeting of the general chairmen of four political parties at the NasDem DPP office on 22 July, according to Jazilul, was not enough, because it had not involved the PDI-P. He hoped that Megawati, as the chairwoman of the main party supporting the government, would meet with the other political parties from the coalition.
"In the near future there should be a joint meeting, so that the public sees the coalition is still healthy and there is not much speculation that the coalition is divided," Jazilul said.
A similar expectation was expressed by PPP secretary-general Arsul Sani, who expressed hope for an immediate meeting that would not only include Megawati but also Jokowi as the coalition leader. "The rules of the game within the coalition need to be improved in advance," he said.
Meanwhile, NasDem and the PDI-P denied that relations in the coalition were damaged. PDI-P deputy secretary-general Eriko Sotarduga said the separate meetings conducted by Megawati and Surya Paloh were about utilizing the dynamic political momentum. "There\'s no need to speculate too much. The momentum in politics cannot be made up, including the moment of meeting with Pak Prabowo. We also should not assume that, just because there was a meeting where the PDI-P was not present, there is something else to it. In reality, it is nothing at all," he said.
He added there would be an appropriate time to bring Megawati together with all coalition party chairpersons, including Surya Paloh.
KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri shakes hands with Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) as she welcomes him during a formal visit on Wednesday (24/7/2019) at her residence on Jl. Teuku Umar in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
The PDI-P, NasDem and other political parties belonging to the Jokowi-Amin coalition, according to NasDem Party secretary-general Johnny G Plate, were on the same wavelength. "Even if we wanted to add [Gerindra], we [woudn’t] question it; we leave it to Pak Jokowi to make a decision. We provide advice with all available considerations," he said.
Political positioning
A researcher of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Arya Fernandes, believed the political dynamics among political parties in the Jokowi-Amin coalition could complicate Jokowi\'s political position. In the future, it was possible that the coalition could split into two groups if Gerindra joined.
The first group would be PDI-P and Gerindra. The other group would consist of Golkar, the PKB, NasDem and the PPP. Such a regrouping could disrupt the effectiveness of Jokowi\'s new government.
Jokowi cannot take too long to let his coalition members maneuver each other. "Jokowi must determine what Cabinet he wants to form and decide whether Gerindra will enter the coalition or not," Arya said.
The decision, Arya added, could not be delayed. The longer that decision took, the more difficult it would be to control dynamics in the coalition. "Jokowi has the full capacity to control the coalition and the Cabinet," Arya noted. (INA/JOL/ INK/ NIA/AGE)

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