Anita Rachman – Rising politician Puan Maharani of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Wednesday said that although the party would never join the pro-government coalition, it remained prepared to accept offers of seats in the cabinet.

Puan, the daughter of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri and the party's head of political affairs, had in the past said it was possible that the PDI-P could work together with the ruling Democratic Party.

But on Wednesday, Puan said that although her party was enjoying close relations with the Democrats, it would be impossible for the opposition to join the ruling coalition.

However, she said that should a PDI-P member be offered a cabinet position by the president, the party would not necessarily discourage the member from accepting.

"Cadres will accept the offer as an individual and not as a party cadre," Puan said. She said the concerned members would also have to report the offer to the party and explain their intentions. "I know it is complicated, but politics is indeed complicated," Puan said.

However, she raised doubts as to whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was actually interested in having opposition members in his cabinet. "Is it really true that [the president] wants cadres from PDI-P to sit in the cabinet? So far, there have been no talks on that."

There have been persistent rumors of a cabinet reshuffle in recent months and PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo on Saturday called on the president to replace 10 ministers due to poor performance.

Ade Komaruddin, House chairman of Golkar Party, said he had heard nothing regarding an impending reshuffle, adding that Puan's stated position was confusing.

"How should we formulate this? They [PDI-P] refuse to join the coalition but will consider offers for positions in the cabinet? I don't understand," he said.

Saan Mustopha, the Democrat's deputy secretary general, said his party did have a good relationship with the PDI-P, but that any cabinet staffing decisions were the president's domain.

"It is not about offering positions in the cabinet, because this is the president's prerogative. Only the president knows whether there will be one [a reshuffle]." PDI-P House secretary Bambang Wuryanto said Puan's statement could be read two ways.

"You might interpret it as that there has been an intimate communication. It could also be interpreted as that the offer must be publicly announced."

Airlangga Pribadi, a political analyst from Surabaya's Airlangga University, said Puan's statement was ambiguous and not reflecting a clear party stance.

He said if the PDI-P refused to join the coalition, it should also reject offers to sit in the Yudhoyono cabinet. "The best decision is to stay as the opposition," he said.