No Guarantee for Coalition Parties

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Effective government is determined by more than just the number of seats that political parties hold in the House of Representatives (DPR). Public support during the elections must be converted into political support.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Effective governance is not only determined by the volume of support from coalitions in the DPR or the government, but also other things, such as coordination among coalitions to carry out the government’s vision and public support from the community.

The history of Indonesian politics shows that the government has frequently been unable to move freely with just the support of minority factions in the House of Representatives (DPR).

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in Jakarta on Tuesday (2/7/2019) that the administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and himself could not run effectively at the beginning because it was supported by a coalition that controlled only 41 percent of House seats. At the beginning of his tenure, the DPR was preoccupied with the polemics of power divisions, because the opposition coalition refused to share the House speakership with the government coalition. Before the polemic was resolved, several ministers of the government coalition refused an invitation to attend a working meeting at the House.

To move past the situation, Jokowi-Kalla then welcomed other political parties to join the government coalition. "In order to reach more than 50 percent (in the DPR), we welcomed PAN [National Mandate Party], Golkar, PPP [United Development Party]," said Kalla.

The administration of Jokowi and Ma\'ruf Amin, who the General Elections Commission (KPU) have declared as the elected president and vice president of the 2019-2024 term, would not face a similar lack of support in the House, he continued, because the coalition backing the pair already had 61 percent of House seats. "This means that this government is actually safe enough in [terms of] the DPR," said Kalla.

However, majority support in the House also did not guarantee effective governance, he said, citing the beginning of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Boediono administration as an example. Even though the administration was supported by a coalition that held 75 percent of seats in the House, it was preoccupied at the outset with the activities of House’s Bank Century Special Committee. Several parties belonging to the government coalition had also supported the formation of the special committee.

Joining

With regard to these experiences, National Awakening Party (PKB) general chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said that Jokowi-Amin was sufficiently backed by a coalition that controlled 61 percent of the House. "Actually, 61 percent is enough, and it is even overweight," he said.

Muhaimin said that the PKB had no problems if political parties that had backed Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno in the election joined the Jokowi-Amin coalition.

Historically, political parties that had supported the losing candidate joined the ruling coalition during Yudhoyono’s two terms as president (2004-2014) and Jokowi\'s first term.

Out of the four Prabowo-Sandi parties that have won seats in the DPR, only the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has stated that it will join the Jokowi-Amin government coalition. The three others – the Democratic Party, PAN and the Gerindra Party – are still undecided as to their political direction for the next five years.

Jokowi will soon hold a meeting with the party leadership of his coalition to discuss inviting Prabowo-Sandi parties to join the new government. Recent developments are leaning towards limiting the number of parties that are welcomed into the government fold or to maintain the existing composition of the government coalition.

PPP secretary-general Arsul Sani pointed out that several factors should be considered before expanding the Jokowi-Amin coalition, including the current dynamics within the coalition.

"There should be no disappointment if a party that joins later receives a good Cabinet position. Besides, we in the coalition also do not know whether all parties in the current coalition will receive a Cabinet position or not," he said.

"During the election campaign, the [political parties] tried to undermine each other. Now that we have won, they want to join the Cabinet in droves. This kind of politics is like stand-up comedy," said Nasdem secretary-general Johnny G. Plate.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said that "reconciliation" between the Jokowi-Amin and Prabowo-Sandi parties should not be interpreted as a divvying up of Cabinet seats. "The final decision is indeed in the President’s hands and the hands of the party leadership. However, I personally think that a healthy coalition should be formed before the [Cabinet] selection. Those who stand outside the government are still needed for a healthy democracy," he said.

Public support

Researcher J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that all members of the coalition must be comfortable with the idea of welcoming opposition parties into their fold before any decision was made. Other matters that needed considering concerned ideological similarities. "The views of the voting public must also be considered," he said.

Airlangga Pribadi Kusman, a lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya, said that the key consideration in forming the new Cabinet should be selecting individuals who were capable of managing the government’s programs.

"So, the main issue is not about whether to embrace the former parties that backed Prabowo-Sandi or not, but seeking those individuals most suitable and most capable of running the government’s programs," he said.

Airlangga said that coalitions did not determine the effectiveness of a government. A government could even be ineffective if it is confined or dictated to by a coalition.

In order to avoid becoming trapped by a coalition forming the Cabinet or running the government, Jokowi needed to focus more on changing the minds of opposition voters and converting them into political support.

"If voter support is not optimally converted into political support, the government can become trapped in the game among the party elite. For example, this is what occurred in the Century Bank case," said Airlangga.

To gain the public’s political support, he continued, the president-elect and vice president-elect and others needed to listen to the people’s aspirations in matters like forming the new Cabinet, as voiced by figures such as community leaders and intellectuals. This way, resolving these matters would not be restricted to political parties and the political elite. (NTA/AGE/NWO)

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