Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) central board finally came to the decision Monday to join the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a coalition for the upcoming presidential election.
The board also proposed that Yudhoyono pick one of its two cadres – PAN chairman Soetrisno Bachir and current State Secretary Hatta Radjasa – as his running mate in the July 8 election.
The decision was achieved after a meeting of the PAN central executive and advisory boards at the party's headquarters in Jakarta, which was led by chief patron Amien Rais. Amien said the endorsement of the two proposed vice-presidential candidates would be discussed further at a special party leadership meeting to be attended by local branches across the country.
The meeting is scheduled for May 2 in Jakarta. "We are going to propose these two names at the upcoming leadership meeting," Amien told journalists after talks Monday.
PAN chairman Soetrisno Bachir promised there would be no intervention from himself or any other party executive during the upcoming meeting. "Everything will be delivered transparently," he said.
The decision reflected the strong influence of Amien as the chief patron of PAN. He is a former party chairman and a failed presidential candidate in 2004. The decision arose after Amien held private talks recently with Yudhoyono, despite his previously staunch criticism of the incumbent government.
Soon after his earlier meeting with Yudhoyono, Amien gathered senior PAN officials at his residence in Yogyakarta to inform them they would be supporting the President's bid for a second five-year term in office.
The meeting concluded with three party figures nominated as vice presidential candidates: Amien, Hatta and Soetrisno. Amien rejected his nomination, saying that at 65, he was too old for the job.
Soetrisno and his allies reportedly wanted to support the presidential nomination of Prabowo Subianto, not Yudhoyono. The Yogyakarta meeting was not attended by Soetrisno, sparking rumors of an internal rift within PAN ahead of the presidential election.
However, some PAN executives, including economist Dradjat Wibowo, denied any split within their party, saying they were unified in facing the next presidential election.
"We are going in the direction earlier indicated by Amien Rais," Dradjat said. From the beginning, he said, party officials had made up their mind to channel support for Yudhoyono.
Earlier Monday, PAN secretary-general Zulkifli Hasan said the party would prioritize the national agenda as a common platform for building a political alliance.
"When choosing our future partners, we will scrutinize the national agenda of the candidates' party and once that is agreed upon, we can form an alliance," he said.
In response to his nomination as a potential running mate for Yudhoyono, Hatta said he would leave the matter to the President. He said he had never thought of becoming a vice presidential candidate and had never discussed the issue with Amien.
"Let's just leave the President to tackle the vice presidential issue. Let's not create fuss there," Hatta, who is the PAN deputy chief patron, said last week.
Yudhoyono has said he is seeking a vice presidential candidate who displays loyalty to the president and places national interests ahead of their own.