Robertus Wardi – The Prosperous Justice Party's future in the pro-government coalition of parties hangs by a thread as the president was said to be busy restructuring his political alliance on Wednesday.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is of the opinion that a frail coalition will only cause problems for the running of the government," said presidential spokesman Daniel Sparring.

"The journey of the past two years has made us all busy," he added. "It is now time to straighten out what has long been delayed.

"This is also the time for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to lead the coalition, which would become a little leaner but would be better able to safeguard the policies of the SBY-Boediono government."

Another presidential spokesman, Julian Aldrin Pasha, declined to say on Wednesday if the president had made a decision about the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). "A statement will be officially made, but at this point I can't comment on the existence and the continuity of the PKS in the government," he said.

The PKS has three ministers in the cabinet but has lately become a thorn in the six-party coalition, most recently by publicly opposing the government's plan to raise the price of subsidized fuel to better manage the budget.

Syarief Hasan, the secretary of the ruling coalition, said that although the PKS had not yet been dismissed, the coalition now included only five parties, not six, as it did previously. "The coalition now has just five members, and they are those who stay together," he said.

Besides the PKS and the ruling Democratic Party, the coalition includes the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB.)

Syarief said the PKS should take the initiative and leave before it is kicked out. "Essentially, the PKS violated the coalition contract," he said. "According to the existing contract, those who violate the contract should resign."

Syarief said the PKS broke three of eight points agreed upon in the contract, which it signed when it joined the coalition. The party violated its obligation to foster harmony in the coalition and to support strategic policies explained to the coalition by the president, he said.

Finally, he said, members who fail to support "a vital and strategic policy" agreed upon by the coalition should remove themselves from the coalition by resigning.

Syarief, who is also a member of the Democratic Party's board of patrons, said the PKS had repeatedly taken a different stance from other coalition members. As such, he said, the PKS has clearly shown it is no longer in solidarity with the coalition.

Mahfudz Siddiq, the PKS deputy secretary general, did not say whether the party would resign but said that if the coalition agreed the party was no longer part of the group, "then PKS will accept this with an open heart." However, he said Yudhoyono ha yet to inform the PKS leader of his final decision.

The Democratic Party's deputy chairman, Jhonny Allen Marbun, agreed with Syarief that the PKS should be responsible for resigning. "We are asking for their conscience, to consider the results of their actions," he said. "They say they're prepared [to leave the coalition] but they just continue."

[Additional reporting by Ezra Sihite and Arientha Primanita.]