United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadharma Ali and several party elites visited the residence of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in Central Jakarta on Monday. The visit was made a week after PPP held a national coordination meeting and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) nominated Megawati as its presidential candidate in the 2009 election. Suryadharma, who is also State Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, talked Tuesday with The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat about his meeting with PDI-P's top brass and the party's preparations for the 2009 elections.

Question: Was your visit to Megawati's residence part of PPP's preparations for the 2009 general election?

Answer: No, really it was not. It was a silaturahmi (friendship) visit to return a visit from (PDI-P's chief patron) Taufik Kiemas and fellow PDI-P executives to PPP's headquarters several months ago.

The visit was made to enhance friendship and brotherhood among elite figures in both parties.

But why was a visit made to PDI-P and not other parties?

PPP has close ties with PDI-P which date back to the era of founding president Sukarno. These ties were concreted by the appointment of Saifuddin Zuhri as religious affairs minister from 1962 until 1967 by Sukarno (Megawati's father). Zuhri, who died in 1986, was one of PPP's senior figures and was the father of Lukman Hakim Saifuddin Zuhri, the current chairman of the PPP faction in House of Representatives.

The two parties continued to maintain close ties during the New Order era and the Reform era. It was not by accident that Megawati took then PPP chairman Hamzah Haz to be vice president between 2001 and 2004.

But PPP is also enhancing ties and cooperation with other nationalist and Islamic parties as part of its commitment to nation building and improving the people's social welfare.

Will you seek a coalition with PDI-P in the 2009 presidential election?

The general election, particularly the presidential race, is a long way away. What we are doing is enhancing friendship and strategic cooperation with all parties and building a common understanding on serious problems the nation is facing. We have a wider perspective than forming such a political coalition.

What are your thoughts on your party's plan to nominate you as its presidential candidate in 2009?

A: PPP is yet to nominate its presidential and vice presidential candidates. There will be a forum, a national congress in April for that purpose. The recent coordination meeting was not the forum to announce the party's presidential candidate. Rather, it was to develop internal consolidation ahead of local elections and the 2009 general election.

We are developing a bottom up policy-making mechanism by letting party members elect their own leaders, both at the national and regional levels.

But are you going to be named as the party's presidential candidate?

A: We rely on the political aspirations of people at the grass roots level (to make such decisions).

Most important is that the party's executive board has taken measures to consolidate the party and encourage party executives at the lowest level to work harder to maintain party members and regain the party's swing voters in the 2004 general election.

We will closely monitor whether our consolidation programs are carried out well in party chapters, branches and units. This internal consolidation must be completed by the end of this year so that the party will be prepared in 2008 with its strategy for the 2009 general election.

Q: What is PPP's target in 2009?

During the recent coordination meeting, we set the target of winning 15 percent of total votes in the 2009 legislative election. This is reasonable because through internal consolidation and coordination, we can improve our achievement of 8.15 percent in the 2004 legislative election, if compared with the party's 27 percent achievement in the 1977 election.

If we achieve our target of 15 percent of seats in parliament, this will allow the party to nominate its own presidential candidate in 2009. However, PPP is open to cooperation (forming a coalition) with other winning parties for the sake of the nation and the formation of an effective government.

What will PPP do to reach its target?

PPP has emerged as a nationalist religious party which is open not only to Muslims dressed traditionally, but also people who dress in a modern style. We are promoting PPP as an inclusive party for all.

PPP is also a safe house for non-Muslims... to fight for their aspirations.

What will you do as a Cabinet member if you are asked by PPP in April 2008 to be its presidential candidate?

It remains uncertain who will be named by the party to be its presidential candidate in 2009. Secondly, we have to listen to the people's political aspirations regarding the nomination of candidates. Thirdly, my nomination should not disturb my (working relationship) with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Can you explain potential cooperation between PPP and other major parties in the 2009 election?

Major factions at the House have established a caucus to discuss strategic issues in line with the ongoing deliberation of four political bills and the law and regulations regarding the General Election Commission (KPU). Strategic issues include the party system, better and fairer general elections, the formation of an effective government and the development of a true democracy.

What do you think an ideal party system would be?

We need to develop a simple multiparty system to form an effective government with strong political support from the parliament in the future. We have to develop a substantive democracy to improve the social welfare of the majority of the people.

What kind of democracy does PPP want to pursue?

Democracy must be developed to strengthen the presidential system with the people's recognition of our unitary state and respect of pluralism as its pillars.

Crucial things which are ignored in developing democracies are mutual respect and the exercise of freedom.

Staging protests is a good and relevant action. However, many protests, staged by groups of people to express their aspirations and freedom, in reality do not respect the freedom of others. Besides being anarchistic, protesters have frequently ignored other people's safety and interests.

Can you imagine how much time and fuel motorists have wasted in traffic jams caused by street protests?

All elements in society should practice reciprocal respect, tolerance and law enforcement when exercising their freedom and working to develop a true democracy.