Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – President-elect Joko Widodo has denied reports confirming his coalition has officially accepted the United Development Party, or PPP, into its fold.
"We will talk about this once the PPP has officially joined the coalition – now they are not even a part of it," Joko told reporters on Sunday, adding that he had indeed attended several meetings with PPP leaders but nothing had been decided, including the possibility of cabinet seats.
On Saturday, PPP deputy chairman Emron Pangkapi announced the party would name a new chairman to replace Suryadharma Ali during a meeting of party representatives in East Java this month, before officially declaring its support for Joko's coalition, which is led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Joko stressed, however, that he did not use the promise of cabinet seats to lure the PPP away from the opposing Red-White Coalition, or KMP, that backed losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.
"We have never offered anything. We didn't offer anything to the parties [that were in the coalition from the start], let alone to newcomers," Joko said. "But the door is wide open, not only for the PPP but for everybody, although there are conditions, of course."
The PPP was rocked by a leadership crisis following the dismissal of Suryadharma, who was named a graft suspect for the alleged mismanagement of hajj funds during his time as minister of religious affairs, and has not bounced back since.
The party has confirmed it is set to hold a four-day national meeting in Surabaya this week to decide who will lead the party and which side to take in the country's political arena. "This is a deciding moment. We hope we can end the division and unite as a party," Emron said.
Also on Sunday, PPP secretary general Romahurmuziy confirmed that none of the party's politicians had been interviewed by Joko or his team. "Up until today, we haven't received any invitation for fit-and-proper tests to fill the cabinet," he told reporters in Jakarta.
Romahurmuziy, however, acknowledged Joko's unconventional ways of recruiting his ministers. "It's likely that some of us were interviewed without even realizing it," he said.
Joko has confirmed that he and Vice President-elect Jusuf Kalla had met all of their potential candidates but said they had been careful not to reveal signs they were considering them for a seat.
"I just chatted with them, in a [coffee] shop, J.K.'s house, at the office [City Hall], during all sorts of occasions. So [the candidates] didn't know they were being interviewed," Joko said last week.
According to the outgoing Jakarta governor, the cabinet candidates would be weighed on their vision, managerial skills and integrity, and he would be seeking advice from law enforcement agencies – including the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), the country's anti-money-laundering body – in investigating their history.
Joko's supporters and political analysts have been divided over whether the president-elect needs to expand his four-party coalition by forming ties with parties from the Red-White faction, after the latter secured leadership of both the House of Representatives and the People's Consultative Council (MPR).
With Joko's inauguration a mere week away, some political analysts have said he will need to move faster if he wants to attract more parties to his coalition and ease House resistance against his cabinet's programs for reform. Another group of observers, meanwhile, believes that Joko would do better to focus on establishing a solid cabinet line-up that can implement his policies and maintain – and even increase – support from the public.
Last Friday, Joko announced his administration would consist of 33 ministries that will be overseen by four coordinating ministries. He said that he and Kalla were close to naming their choices.
Joko had initially planned for a total of 34 ministries, led by a mix of technocrats and politicians, under three coordinating ministries, but then opted to scrap several ministries created during the Yudhoyono administration. Others with similar roles will be merged.
Though the size of his a cabinet remains roughly the same, it is not certain whether he will retain his original ratio between pure technocrats and politicians.
Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/ppp-new-addition-pdi-p-coalition-says-joko-widodo/