Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday firmly ruled out an alliance between her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, effectively putting an end to weeks of speculation about the move.

"For me, it would be ludicrous for representatives of all political parties to end up joining the cabinet. Who will then carry out the checks and balances?" the former president said after attending an event in Bogor organized by her party, also known as the PDI-P.

"With this in mind, joining the coalition, according to us, is not a goal. So, I decide – I still decide – that we will not go there."

The PDI-P is scheduled to hold its national congress in Bali next month to not only elect a new chairperson, but to also discuss a range of issues affecting the party, including the matter of joining the ruling coalition.

Megawati's statement comes after weeks of growing speculation, fueled largely by senior Democratic officials whose party has been on the offensive ever since a vote in the House of Representatives this month went against them, declaring the government bailout of Bank Century illegal.

Democratic Party deputy chairman Ahmad Mubarok and presidential spokesman Heru Lelono both said it was very likely that the PDI-P would join Yudhoyono's tattered coalition, with Lelono even saying that he was "99.99 percent sure" it would join.

The Democrats have aggressively lobbied the PDI-P to join its coalition to possibly replace the Golkar Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) or United Development Party (PPP), all of which crossed the floor to vote that the Bank Century bailout was illegal.

Megawati's husband, Taufik Kiemas, the speaker for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), had reportedly warmed to the idea of joining the coalition and attempted to convince other members of the PDI-P elite about its merits.

Taufik has been a long-time proponent of an alliance with the Democrats, despite Megawati's strained relationship with Yudhoyono, who served as one of her cabinet ministers before he defeated her in the 2004 presidential election.

Some PDI-P members had earlier said the coalition proposal would be lucrative for the party considering cabinet positions might be on offer. Political analysts pointed out that joining the coalition would have other benefits for the party, including giving them more leverage to help past and present PDI-P lawmakers who were currently in trouble over a graft scandal linked to the appointment of a central bank official in 2004.

PDI-P legislator Ganjar Pranowo on Thursday said the Democrats owed his party an explanation about their offer to join the coalition, although he had no intention of going against his chairwoman's decision to remain in opposition. "Of course, surely I would straightaway choose in accordance to Ibu Megawati's wishes," he said.

Apart from the issue of joining the ruling coalition, Megawati said the PDI-P would also discuss its line of succession at next month's congress and whether the next chairperson should come from the Sukarno family dynasty. Megawati herself is the daughter of the country's charismatic first president, Sukarno.

Meanwhile, a group from the PDI-P's youth wing also held a news conference on Thursday to support their chairwoman's stance. "We expect Megawati to maintain our ideology by not joining the coalition," Cepi Budi Muliawan said.

Many rank-and-file party members want the party to remain in opposition and have thrown their weight behind Megawati running for her fourth term as chairwoman. There is also widespread support for her son, Prananda Prabowo, to take up a senior position in the party, ahead of his sister, Puan Maharani.

"We support Prananda as the party's deputy chairman," Cepi said, adding that Prananda's "ideological" camp, which included PDI-P heavyweights Kwik Kian Gie, Yakobus Mayongpadang, Cornelis Lay and Ribka Tjiptaning, was opposed to the "pragmatic" camp of Puan and PDI-P secretary general Pramono Anung.