Jakarta – Indonesian President-elect Joko Widodo has reiterated his offer to parties supporting his rival, Prabowo Subianto, to join his new government – a move that has prompted worry and praise among analysts.
Joko previously indicated that he was amenable to the rival parties joining his cause, following increasing signs of an impending breakup of the so-called Red-and-White coalition after the July 9 election.
On Tuesday, however, the Jakarta governor made it all the more clear that he would seriously welcome extra support from the other side, citing the composition in the next House of Representatives – where Joko's coalition will have just 37 percent of seats. Prabowo's bloc, meanwhile, will control 63 percent of House seats – if it manages to stay intact.
"I'm opening an opportunity for [rival] parties to join in the new government," Joko said in Jakarta on Tuesday. "If they join in and [we can] form a strong bloc in the House, government programs will run smoothly."
Joko said last week that at least three parties from Prabowo's side had expressed interest in crossing over to his side as soon as he was declared the winner of the presidential election on July 22, with 53 percent of votes, or nearly 71 million ballots.
Joko declined to name the three parties, but reiterated on Tuesday that there would be no horse-trading in the appointment of cabinet minister. Joko and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, have long stressed that this is a prerequisite for any party joining his camp.
"There should be no conditions, no transactions for any positions or any jobs," Joko said on Tuesday. "We've promised none of those to the original members [of our coalition], so why would we make that promise to those who come in later?"
But observers warn that despite the claim, it will be difficult for Joko to form his cabinet on a purely professional basis.
In fact, around one-third of the 102 names suggested to fill 34 ministerial posts by the Jokowi Center, a team Joko formed to gather public input for his cabinet, are politicians, mostly from Joko's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), though many of them also have a professional background.
'Healthy' House
Aleksius Jemadu, the dean of the School of Social and Political Studies at Pelita Harapan University, said Joko needed to expand his current coalition to ensure that key government policies will not stall at the House.
"They need to reach out to the other side in order to have [the majority] strength in the House, so it's understandable. Major government policies do need the House's support," he said.
He warned, though, that a coalition that was too big, like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's six-party bloc that controls 76 percent of House seats, would be counterproductive.
"That will make the House less critical of the government and pave the way for transactional politics that may not always benefit the people," Aleksius said.
He added that Joko's attempts to reach out to former foes should be made purely in the spirit of national reconciliation, to ease tensions and hostilities following the closest and most bitterly fought election in Indonesian history.
"However, if it's meant to quash criticism and opposition, that won't make for good democratic practice, because power must always be controlled; the government must always be careful with its policies for the people. And a 'hostile' opposition, which is able to provide real challenges to the government, will make a good control system," Aleksius said.
Djayadi Hanan, the research director of polling institute Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, said it wouldn't be difficult for Joko to form a coalition with a majority of House seats, with several parties in Prabowo's camp appearing ready to jump ship at any moment.
Seeking an additional 13 percent of House seats, Joko is spoiled for choice, Djayadi said, citing a slew of politicians from four parties – the Golkar Party, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP) – who have indicated their willingness to abandon Prabowo.
The need to save face by the parties that have publicly pledged their allegiance to Prabowo and even signed up to a "permanent coalition" may not allow for any of the parties to officially embrace Joko just yet, but that's expected to change as soon as Aug. 22, when the Constitutional Court rules on the legal challenge against the election results brought by Prabowo, Djayadi said.
"Only Gerindra [Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party] and the PKS [the Prosperous Justice Party] are sticking to the bloc," he said. "They're the most disappointed members of that coalition."
Public resistance?
Even if Joko manages to poach political support away from Prabowo, the question still remains how the 62.6 million people who voted for the losing candidate will take to the prospect of Joko as president, given how polarizing the campaign, balloting and post-election periods were.
Many of Prabowo's staunchest supporters remain deeply dissatisfied with the official result from the General Elections Commission (KPU) and have sided with Prabowo's accusations against it of "massive, structured and systematic" electoral fraud favoring Joko.
A smear campaign painting Joko as having an anti-Islamic agenda also continues to reverberate in deeply conservative Muslim communities, with some even attributing his win to foreign intervention as part of an Islamophobic conspiracy, despite no evidence whatsoever for that.
Djayadi said there was no way for Joko to end these rumors and people's doubts on him but through showing people his abilities in leading the country.
"There's no need for his PR team to work on improving his image. He can prove those accusations wrong by working, by showing people how he's forming his cabinet, with his programs, and by communicating with the people," Djayadi said.
He added the rumors would die down, as in the case with Yudhoyono, who was also accused of being a foreign agent in the 2004 and 2009 elections.
"Slowly, as [Yudhoyono] started working, those accusations were found to be unproven," Djayadi said. "Although admittedly, this year's presidential election has been a harsher competition, with only two candidates running for the presidency."
Aleksius, though, said Joko needed to pay attention to building good political communications, including with grassroots communities, to ensure public support of key government policies.
"For example, if the new government wants to raise the price of subsidized fuel, its PR team must be able to explain properly to the public why it's a necessary step, i.e. because fuel subsidies have caused budget deficits, and so on," Aleksius said.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jokowis-unity-bid-eye-house-seats/