Anita Rachman – With a recent survey indicating that Golkar Party's popularity has fallen below its two main rivals, a top Golkar politician said on Monday that the party might need to reconsider the benefits of being part of the ruling coalition.

"[Being part of the] coalition is resulting in a decline of [Golkar's] popularity, and it is the opposition party that is gaining votes," said Priyo Budi Santoso, who is also a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. As such, he said, Golkar might need to rethink whether it should stay in the coalition.

The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) study, released on Sunday, showed that 18.9 percent of respondents would vote for the Democrats if an election were held this month, down from the 20.85 percent it won in the general elections in April 2009.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) came second with 16.7 percent, up from 14.15 percent during the elections. Golkar, who went second during the 2009 national elections, came third with 12.5 percent.

Priyo said it was curious to see PDI-P seemingly benefiting from the Democratic Party's decline.

"The PDI-P is the one getting the votes from the Dems' decline. This is an interesting phenomenon. Why aren't they going to Golkar?" Priyo said. "We will immediately discuss with chairman [Aburizal Bakrie] regarding our future in the coalition," he said. "But for now we are still in the coalition."