Anita Rachman & Ronna Nirmala – An unexpected alliance between the ruling Democratic Party and opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle could be in the cards for the 2014 presidential election.

Taufik Kiemas, chairman of the advisory board for the party also known as the PDI-P, on Tuesday said that without obvious picks for a presidential candidate, both parties could end up on the same ticket in 2014.

"The PDI-P and the Democrats both don't have candidates for the next presidential election... so we could go forward together," said Taufik, who is the husband of PDI-P chairwoman and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri. "Three years is a short period of time."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Democrats' patriarch, is prevented by term limits from running in 2014, while Megawati "will probably not run either," Taufik said.

This, he argued, made analliance with the Democrats far more likely than a PDI-P deal with the Golkar Party, which will almost certainly field its own candidate in 2014.

The Democrats are the biggest party in the country, based on results from the 2009 general elections, followed by Golkar and the PDI-P. Golkar joined the Democrats' political coalition shortly after the elections, while the PDI-P remained in opposition.

But Taufik's remarks on Tuesday highlight an increasing acceptance by senior PDI-P officials to embrace the Democrats. The two have been at loggerheads ever since Yudhoyono left Megawati's administration to join the then-nascent Democrats.

In March, Megawati ruled out any chance that her party would accept cabinet seats in Yudhoyono's administration. However, her daughter and a senior cadre, Puan Maharani, said in October that joining the cabinet was a realistic option.

Puan later revised her statement following an outcry by other officials, saying the decision to ally with the Democrats was not hers to make but had to be approved by the PDI-P's congress.

Taufik also weighed in, saying the PDI-P was not interested in joining the ruling coalition simply to get a few token cabinet seats. "That would be a political transaction, and we don't want that," he said.

He also criticized the coalition's joint secretariat, which he said ran counter to democratic principles. "Thus, we don't want to join the coalition," he said.

Party stalwarts, however, have balked at the idea of sharing a presidential ticket with the Democrats in 2014.

Tjahjo Kumolo, the PDI-P's secretary general, was adamant that the party had not yet reached a decision on who to nominate or which parties to side with in the next polls. "The PDI-P is communicating with all parties, but has yet to discuss the strategy for 2014," he said.

Tjahjo denied there had been talks about the PDI-P joining the ruling coalition to strengthen the Democrats' hand against an increasingly belligerent Golkar, saying all decisions on the party's future would only be issued at its next congress in 2011.

"The PDI-P will not be used as a tool to boost any other party's bargaining position," he said.

He added that while the party had held talks with the Democrats, they did not touch on any key issues. "Yes, we've had some discussions with the Democrats, but they weren't about strategy or strengthening the ruling coalition," he said.

Saan Mustopha, a deputy secretary general for the Democrats, confirmed the talks had not been about forming an alliance. "They weren't technical talks about the 2014 polls, we're just intensifying our communication," he said.

"Talk [of working together] is still far ahead, it's at the conceptual stage. Our main concern today is how to keep the government functioning well until 2014."

Yudi Latief, a political expert from the Reform Institute, said it was unlikely that any ongoing discussions between the parties could be concluded in time to nominate a mutual candidate for the 2014 presidential election, although the political climate was dynamic and things could change in a matter of weeks.

The discussions, Yudi said, were aimed at bolstering the parties' short-term interests ahead of the polls.

"For the Democrats, the talks will serve to underscore their authority over the coalition members," he said. The PDI-P, he said, simply wanted to show it was still a political force to be reckoned with.