Jakarta – A shake-up of the ruling coalition is no remedy for the ailing relationship among political parties that have exercised transactional maneuvers at the House of Representatives, observers say.
Indonesian Civilized Circle (Lima) director Ray Rangkuti said replacing the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) with the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) would not improve the effectiveness of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration. "There will be the same old bargains and political deals," he said Sunday.
Ray said an effective coalition could never exist given the same pragmatic and transactional nature among legislators, meaning that any decision by the coalition would be radically different from what it delivered to the House of Representatives.
Yudhoyono announced plans to reconfigure the coalition that his Democratic Party leads after stating that certain coalition parties had reneged on their commitment to support the government in the executive and legislative branches.
He made the announcement after a bid to create a tax inquiry committee – opposed by the Democratic Party – was narrowly defeated at the House.
It remains unclear if the statement was aimed at the Golkar Party and the PKS, both of who backed calls to form the committee, while other coalition members supported the Democratic Party's stance.
The coalition currently comprises the Democratic Party, the PKS, Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
PAN political communications head Bima Arya Sugiarto shared the same concern, saying a reformed coalition would not work effectively if a better framework was not in place to ensure unity.
"Arguments between coalition members are normal, that's democracy. But, when the coalition has decided, then all members must comply with the stance," Bima said.
He said the coalition must carefully choose a replacement for the PKS, should it be ousted.
As of Sunday, the President has not commented on any changes in the coalition, whereas the Democratic Party have voiced plans to replace the PKS with Gerindra while keeping Golkar in the coalition.
Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie on Sunday said the coalition's reform plans and Cabinet reshuffle were not his party's concerns.
"Golkar won't dance to their tune. Golkar won't wrangle for power," Aburizal said in a speech at a Golkar event in Jakarta, as reported by news portal vivanews.com. He called on party members to worry on the nation's greater needs.
University of Indonesia political analyst Fachry Ali predicted that Golkar would remain in the coalition given "the good relationship" between Yudhoyono and Aburizal.
"Indonesian politics is still dominated by personal relationships. Yudhoyono has history with Aburizal," he said, referring to the long relationship between both men since Yudhoyono's time in the army.