PKS Understands SBY's Decision to Choose Boediono

Tribun Pekanbaru/Melvinas Priananda

Tifatul Sembiring.

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The president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Tifatul Sembiring, said here on Saturday that his party could understand Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s decision to choose Boediono as his running mate.

After attending the registration of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY)-Boediono with the General Elections Commission (KPU) here on Saturday he told newsmen that SBY had chosen Boediono because he needed a company who understood economic affairs with regard to dealing with current global economic crisis.

"In our talk with him (SBY) on Friday he explained that his next government would work hard to overcome the problems of economic crisis. So he needed an expert in the fields of finance, banking and economy," he said.

He said during the meeting at the State Palace SBY also denied that his running mate was a liberal economist.

After accepting Boediono’s nomination PKS submitted a political contract to SBY for signing. The contract is a guarantee for PKS or SBY’s Democratic Party to coalesce for the presidential race on July 8 as well as in the next government if the ticket won the race. Under the contract PKS had asked SBY and Boediono to uphold the country’s economic sovereignty with no foreign intervention.

The contract is also related to a commitment to eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism as well as bureaucratic reform effort, poverty alleviation and others.

Tifatul said PKS’s decision to finally coalesce with the Democratic party was not against the decision of the party’s advisory council. "We remain consistent wih the council’s decision namely that coalition with the Democratic Party was possible after the political contract was signed. The contract based on PKS’s political platform has been signed by SBY," he said.

Tifatul said the tug-of-war between PKS and the Democratic Party in the past few days was caused more by miscommunication regarding Boediono’s choice. After the problem was settled PKS was now ready to help SBY and Beodiono win in the race. "Certainly as a coalition member we will work hard to make our candidates win," he said, adding the decision to choose Boediono was in line with the principle of "the right man in the right place."

KPU Directly Appoint Contracts

The General Elections Commission (KPU) can directly appoint contractors to supply poll equipment and services as long as it uses the standard prices set by the government, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Friday.


The statement contradicted that made a day earlier by Home Minister Mardiyanto, State Minister for Administrative Reforms Taufik Effendi and State Minister for National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta, who all rejected a proposal for direct appointments made by the KPU.


“Presidential Decree No. 80/2003 allows for the direct appointment [of suppliers], so there is no need for a new decree if the KPU wants to go this way,” Kalla, who also chairs the Golkar Party, said.


However, he stressed that the appointed contractors must apply the standard prices of election materials set by the government.


The KPU had submitted a draft presidential decree with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to allow it to avoid open tenders for its procurement projects worth trillions of rupiah.


The 2003 decree on the purchase of goods and service states that contracts by state agencies worth more than Rp 50 million must be conducted through open tenders.

Article 17 of the presidential decree says direct appointment could only be made if at least three contractors were involved and they had passed pre-qualification selections.


It stipulates that direct appointment can also be applied in certain special conditions with negotiated prices.


Procurement contract expert Harmawan Kaeni said special conditions could be categorized as natural disasters or issues of state security.


“Direct appointment cannot be implemented in all situations. In terms of the upcoming elections, I see no emergency situation that would warrant such a decision.”

KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said Friday his office might directly appoint companies to supply logistic materials for the second round of presidential elections. The presidential election is slated on July 28 with the second round to be held on Sept 13.

The Indonesia Forum for Budget Transparency said direct appointment is highly rampant to graft as the public and election watchdogs are denied access to control the procurement process

KPU Plans Ruling on seat Dispute

The national polling body is calling for a regulation to follow up on a recent Constitutional Court ruling which states legislative seats will be distributed based on the number of votes candidates win in the upcoming April elections.

General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshari said the regulation would outline the method for distributing seats to legislative candidates based on the number of seats won by each political party in the elections.

"According to the draft, the candidate who earns the most votes will directly receive a seat," he told reporters Thursday.

He said the commission was still discussing how to resolve problems if two or more legislative candidates won an equal number of votes.

"We are considering firstly to evaluate the size of the electoral districts won by the candidates. The seats will be handed over to the candidates who are elected in a number of electoral areas," he said.

"But, if the candidates win in districts of the same size, we are considering three options: allowing political parties to distribute the seats, using a numerical order system or through a lottery," Hafiz said.

The Constitutional Court revoked an article in the 2008 legislative elections last year concerning the way in which legislative seats were distributed.

The annulled article allowed party leaders to handpick close supporters to represent the parties in the national and regional legislatures, rather than to candidates who won the most votes.

The law also states that legislative seats must first be distributed to candidates who secure at least 30 percent of the original vote.

The rest of the seats are then allocated according to the list of the permanent legislative candidates submitted by the political parties.

Hafiz said the KPU had earlier wanted to seek a more powerful policy in the form of a government regulation in-lieu-of law (perpu) on the distribution of legislative seats.

"But the court judges informed us the ruling was legally binding and there was no need to issue this regulation," he said.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Ganjar Pranowo said the KPU regulation was "too weak" to regulate the distribution of legislative seats.

"It is dangerous because the KPU is a government agency. People or groups not satisfied with the KPU regulation could bring the case to court, which could threaten the cancellation of the elections," he said.

He said the House of Representatives needed to set up a special commission to alter articles in the 2008 election law which were annulled by the court.

Ganjar also criticized the government's plan to issue a regulation allowing voters to tick ballot papers twice in the legislative elections.

"I do not understand the government's way of thinking. I did not detect any emergency need for issuing this regulation. The government needs to focus on regulating the ways of distributing legislative seats," he said.

The KPU has sent the regulation draft to the President for approval.

A regional legislative candidate in Bekasi regency, West Java, Parsaulian Tambunan also opposed the issuance of the regulation allowing voters to double tick on ballots.

"Most legislative candidates have campaigned for voters to tick once on ballot papers as stipulated in the election law. It will confuse voters," Parsaulian, from the Nationality Democracy Party (PDK) said.

Meanwhile, a politician from the Democratic Party, Atte Suganda said allowing voters to tick twice on ballot papers was essential to avoid ballots becoming invalid as many people were still unaware of the new voting procedure.

"An internal survey shows about 40 percent of ballot papers would be invalid if we apply the old voting system," he said.

Demo PKS Bukan Kampanye

Ada lima alasan PKS menyatakan aksi 2 Januari bukanlah kampanye Pemilu. Apa saja itu?

Partai Keadilan Sejahtera menyatakan siap menjelaskan demonstrasi 2 Januari 2009 yang dilaporkan Panitia Pengawas Pemilu Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta ke polisi.

"Kita menunggu saja. Jika dipanggil, kita akan jelaskan dan terangkan. Jika disidangkan ayo," kata Presiden PKS, Tifatul Sembiring, di kantor Dewan Pimpinan Pusat PKS, Jalan Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta, Kamis, 8 Januari 2009.

PKS berkukuh demonstrasi usai Salat Jumat itu membawa isu kemanusiaan. Serangan Israel atas Palestina yang membuat banyak korban membuat PKS tergerak memprotes. "Jadi tuduhan bahwa PKS melakukan kampanye terselubung tidak beralasan," kata Tifatul.

Tifatul menjelaskan ada lima poin alibi PKS. Pertama, tidak ada unsur kesengajaan untuk berkampanye. Kedua, anggapan Panitia Pengawas Pemilu bahwa PKS menjelaskan visi dan misi luar negeri juga tak benar. "Kami menjelaskan visi dan misi bangsa, bahwa setiap negara bebas dari penjajahan," kata Tifatul.

Ketiga, PKS tidak mengajak orang lain selain kader-kader PKS. "Kami ketika demo hanya mengutuk Israel agar segera menghentikan serangan."

Keempat, demonstrasi sudah dapat izin dari kepolisian. "Dan tentu saja polisi tidak akan memberikan izin jika yang kita ajukan bersifat kampanye," ujar Tifatul. Kelima, penggunaan bendera PKS sebagai identitas saja.

"Jadi, mengenai demo, PKS itu jika ada pemilu dan tidak ada pemilu, kita ya tetap demo karena ini adalah our habit," ujar Tifatul.

Dus Dur Ambisi Presiden

Abdurrahman Wahid masih menyimpan keinginan untuk maju sebagai calon presiden Indonesia tahun ini. Dia bahkan sudah berencana membentuk pemerintahan yang benar-benar bersih seandainya terpilih menjadi presiden.

"Kalau saya tidak dicalonkan saya boleh memilih siapa saja. Tapi sekarang belum ada pilihan," ujarnya saat menghadiri Konferensi Rekonsiliasi Nasional Merajut Akar Kebangsaan Indonesia di Hotel Sahid Yogyakarta, Kamis, 8 Januari 2009.

Menurut Gus Dur, saat ini di Indonesia terdapat lebih dari 4.000 orang tokoh yang harus ditangkap karena berbagai macam pelanggaran hukum. "Kalau saya terpilih jadi presiden, mereka akan saya bersihkan. Saya akan bentuk pemerintahan baru," ujarnya.

Siapa saja orangnya? "Tidak perlu saya sebutkan, yang penting bukan anda (wartawan --red). Jumlahnya sekitar 4.000 orang, termasuk orang-orang lama dan militer," ujarnya.

Gus Dur melihat pemberantasan korupsi saat ini belum menyentuh seluruh pelaku dan sektor korupsi. "Saya lihat hanya teman-teman Megawati saja yang dibui," ujar Gus Dur.

Gus Dur juga berkomentar soal imbauan fatwa haram tentang golput. Menurut Gus Dur, banyak pihak yang memesan fatwa tersebut kepada Majelis Ulama Indonesia. Mereka mempunyai misi tertentu yang bisa tercapai dengan bantuan fatwa dari kalangan agama. "Mereka punya misi khusus," ujarnya.

Bedanya Massa PKS dengan lainnya !

Mayoritas Massa PKS Pilih Partai Bukan Calon
"Untuk 2009, saya menduga kecenderungan perilaku pemilih akan tetap memilih partai
Dalam Pemilu 2004, sebagian besar massa Partai Keadilan Sejahtera memilih lambang partai, bukan calon legislator. Hal ini, kata salah satu ketua Tim Pemenangan Pemilu PKS, Mahfudz Siddiq, menunjukkan kepercayaan yang tinggi pada partai berasas Islam ini.

"Untuk 2009, saya menduga kecenderungan perilaku pemilih akan tetap memilih partai. Soal caleg siapa, tidak jadi masalah," kata Mahfudz dalam perbincangan dengan VIVAnews, Rabu, 7 Januari 2009.

Kecenderungan memilih lambang partai ini membuat strategi pertama PKS dalam Pemilu 2009 nanti tetap mengkampanyekan partai dengan kuat. Kemudian, barulah strategi kedua mendorong caleg untuk menggalang basis dukungan secara tradisional. "Melalui jalur keluarga, door to door, atau komunitas," kata Mahfudz yang juga Ketua Fraksi PKS di parlemen itu.

Strategi kedua ini lebih ditegaskan lagi setelah Mahkamah Konstitusi memutuskan penetapan caleg berdasarkan suara terbanyak. Caleg-caleg PKS pun dengan sendirinya berlomba-lomba untuk meraih suara. "Walaupun bagi PKS, siapapun calegnya, jika telah masuk daftar, pasti berkualitas," kata Mahfudz.

PKS Bukan Kampanye

Presiden Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS), Tifatul Sembiring, membantah aksi solidaritas Palestina pada 2 Januari 2009 lalu adalah kampanye terselubung. Aksi itu bentuk keterpanggilan PKS atas pelanggaran hak asasi manusia (HAM) di Palestina.

"Jadi, kalau menurut saya, ini masalah human rights," kata Presiden PKS Tifatul Sembiring, di Jakarta, Rabu 7 Januari 2009. Kalau kampanye, ujar dia, mengapa massa PKS harus berjalan kaki dari Bundaran Hotel Indonesia menuju Kedutaan Besar Amerika.

Aksinya murni berisi solidaritas untuk rakyat Palestina yang dibombardir Israel. Tema besar orasi-orasi juga mengenap stop pembantaian. "Orasinya terkait dengan itu, tidak ada kampanye," katanya.

Sebelumnya, anggota Badan Pengawas, Bambang Eka Cahya Widada, mengatakan aksi PKS itu memenuhi unsur kampanye. Ada calon legislator berorasi yang mengandung visi dan misi partai. "Bendera PKS lengkap dengan logo dan nomor urut tampak dominan," ujar Bambang.

Namun argumen itu pun dibantah Tifatul. Bendera adalah sebagai identitas. PKS juga telah mengajukan izin ke polisi. Dan, polisi mengizinkan.

Tifatul meminta Badan Pengawas lebih jernih melihat aksi tersebut. "Kami hanya kampanye sesuai ketentuan. Kalau sekarang belum rapat umum, ya kami tak rapat umum," ujar dia menegaskan.

Sementara itu, anggota Badan Pengawas, Wahidah Suaib, tetap berkesimpulan aksi yang melibatkan lebih dari 100.000 orang itu merupakan bentuk kampanye terselubung. Kalau murni demonstrasi, bendera tidak pakai nomor urut. "Kan, sudah masuk musim Pemilu, sebagai peserta, kok mengumpulkan massa banyak. Mesti hargai institusi penyelenggara pemilu," ujarnya.

Karena itu, Badan Pengawas akan mengkaji lebih intensif bersama Panitia Pengawas DKI Jakarta. Hasil kajian itu akan diteruskan ke Sentra Penegakan Hukum Terpadu (Sentra Gakumdu). "Kalau dibiarkan, bisa jadi efek bola salju ke depannya," ujarnya. Sanksinya, kata dia, kalau terbukti melanggar Undang-undang No 10 Tahun 2008 dan peraturan Komisi Nomor 19/2008, penanggung jawab acara bisa dikenakan denda

PKS surprised LSI survey

Presiden Partai Keadilan Sejahtera Tifatul Sembiring : feel surprised with the results of the Indonesian Survey Institute survey, which was announced Sunday, January 4, 2009 afternoon.

Not because of a decline in earnings in the MCC results of the survey was last LSI, but the shock triggered Tags: the results of a survey that shows the high level of satisfaction of the community to the performance of the government, which is 69 percent.

"With the increasing price of fuel (down before eventually rise again because the dollar exchange rate-red), and in the midst of scarcity of fuel, can be so thin, until 69 planning," said Tags: VIVAnews via a connection to the phone, Sunday 4 January 2009.

From the survey, the MCC earnings to decline from 6.3 percent to 4 percent. MCC also diminished the position of the fourth order to become a fifth, under the National Party's rise.

Tags: but do not bother too the results of the survey was last LSI. From the results of the research LSI before the election, 2004, MCC meraup only 2-3 percent of the vote. "But, remember we get 7 percent."

When LSI now predict the MCC obtain 4 percent vote, according to Tags:, is on the increase. Chance, Tags: word, "the result could be even 15 percent."

On the basis of ketakakuratan addition, questioned the figures Tags: satisfaction of the community to the performance of the government that claimed LSI reached 69 percent. "From where the origin of 69 percent, should be clarified."