Anastasia Winanti Riesardhy – Analysts have predicted that the Prosperous Justice Party's tough stance against the government's plan to increase the price of subsidized fuel will not boost its popularity and will likely backfire on the party.
"What the PKS [Prosperous Justice Party] is doing could be perceived in two ways," said research firm Pol-Tracking Institute director Hanta Yuda.
Hanta said on one hand, the PKS could be seen as a party who are willing to fight for people's aspirations. But with the PKS still a member of the government's ruling coalition the stance could send mixed signals. "Another message [viewed by people] is that the PKS is being inconsistent and being hypocritical," he said.
Hanta said that this was not the first time that the PKS were taking an opposing side from the government before eventually going back to support them. "I think PKS really needs to calculate [its strategies] otherwise it will be a political boomerang," he said.
The government has previously announced plans to raise the price of subsidized gasoline to Rp 6,500 ($0.66) a liter and subsidized diesel to Rp 5,500 a liter. Both types of fuels are sold at Rp 4,500, less than half their unsubsidized market prices.
But in an act of defiance the PKS mounted banners across Jakarta saying that it opposes the government's plan.
The move has irked members of the ruling Democratic Party calling the PKS a traitor for engaging in "dirty politics." Several senior Democrats have even asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Democratic Party chairman to oust the PKS from the coalition and remove all three PKS ministers from the cabinet.
Julian Aldrin Pasha, a spokesman for the president, said the banners were politically provocative and undermined government efforts to promote the fuel price rises and the compensation that would accompany them.
PKS's opposition to the fuel price increase has led to accusations of rebelliousness. Such claims were encouraged by the PKS's absence from a coalition meeting on the fuel subsidy issue at Vice President Boediono's residence on Tuesday night.
Leaders from the other four coalition members have requested Yudhoyono oust PKS from the coalition.
The PKS has seen a decline in popularity after its former chairman Luthfi Hasan Ishak was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal linked to the country's beef import quota.
The declining popularity led some to believe that the move was a desperate maneuver to woo voters.
PKS lawmaker Sohibul Imam recently said that the party were considering to leave the ruling coalition if the government went ahead with the fuel hike plan.
Hanta said the PKS had more to gain in the upcoming legislative election if it withdrew from the coalition, a view shared by many figures and members inside the party.