Anita Rachman, Jakarta – The chairman of the Democratic Party said on Sunday that despite competing interests within its ranks, the joint secretariat had "performed well" this year and could last until the next polls.

Anas Urbaningrum said the secretariat, established in May by the ruling coalition to unify pro-administration parties at the House of Representatives, had served its purpose.

"There have been differences in our political stance, but as for strategic issues, we are all the same [in terms of goals]," he said.

The joint secretariat – headed by managing chairman Aburizal Bakrie of the Golkar Party and secretary Syarif Hassan of the Democratic Party – was reputedly set up to "facilitate better communication" among the Democrats and their allies.

Others, however, saw the move as a way to consolidate power and ensure the loyalty of allied factions, many of which opposed the Democratic Party's move to stop investigations into the 2008 Bank Century bailout.

Lawmakers had said the Rp 6.7 trillion ($744 million) rescue for the troubled lender was unjustified and the distribution of funds anomalous.

Political experts had raised doubts about the success of launching a joint secretariat, saying political infighting would tear the coalition apart. Anas, however, said the secretariat could survive at least until the 2014 elections.

He said around this time, coalition members would start to put their political survival ahead of other interests – including their support of the Democratic Party. "And that [behavior] is very normal because parties will consider their own political expectations," Anas said. "But I am sure [the secretariat] would survive until 2014."

Similarly, Aburizal, chairman of the Golkar Party, said on Sunday that the coalition would be "solid, God willing."

But Airlangga Pribadi, a political analyst from Surabaya's Airlangga University, said the joint secretariat would likely not feel cracks within its coalition until the middle of next year.

He said the alliance was shaky at best, as its experience this year showed the government was "held hostage" by the interests of coalition members, many of whom had competing agendas and failed to cooperate with each other in line with the ruling coalition's goals.

Airlangga also said the joint secretariat sometimes doubled as a venue where powerful parties could push for policies, thus overlapping with the Cabinet's functions. "Because then there's a question whether the policies are actually issued within the secretariat or the cabinet," he said.

M. Romahurmuziy, the deputy secretary general of United Development Party (PPP) and a member of the joint secretariat, said the setup had weaknesses. This year, the secretariat was unable to work effectively, he said, "because there has been dishonesty inside it."

He said the secretariat had turned into a venue for bickering among rival factions, which hindered the coalition from coming up with united stands on certain issues affecting the public and the government.

"When we have agreed on certain thing, then members must not make some maneuvers [counter to that]," the lawmaker said. "Also, when we [obviously] have different opinions on certain issues, then we shouldn't tell the public that the secretariat has only one voice."

Anas, however, said the secretariat was still young and that there were "still many strategic agendas" to thresh out within the coalition.