Oesman tipped for MPR post

JAKARTA. The Regional Representatives Council (DPD) has elected Oesman Sapta of West Kalimantan as a candidate to lead the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), in a move that may favor president-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s coalition.

Garnering 67 of 122 votes during a vote among DPD members on Monday night, Oesman trumped eight other DPD members that were also named candidates for the MPR’s top job.

“Our first priority is to [see a DPD candidate as] MPR speaker. We want the positions of MPR leaders to be filled by the DPD, the Red-and-White Coalition and [Jokowi’s] coalition,” DPD chairman Irman Gusman said after the plenary session.

Lobbying from 10 factions in the House of Representatives and a faction in the DPD resulted on Monday in the demand that the DPD name one candidate in two nomination packages for MPR leadership.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Aria Bima said the decision to let the DPD decide on one candidate was reached after the PDI-P, along with several factions from the Red-and-White Coalition, backed the plan.

“Those who rejected the plan were the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the Golkar Party, but the Prosperous Justice Party [PKS] and the United Development Party [PPP] allowed the DPD to do so,” he said.

The DPD has named nine candidates to run in the leadership election at the MPR, a bicameral assembly that houses both lawmakers and DPD members.

The Red-and-White Coalition has more alternative candidates in the nine nominations, as six candidates are affiliated with political parties in that coalition.

President-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s coalition is closely affiliated with John Pieris of Maluku, a former Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) member, and businessman Oesman of West Kalimantan, who supported Jokowi in the recent presidential election.

The Democratic Party is linked to South Sumatra representative Asmawati, who is also the wife of party executive Marzuki Alie.

The House and DPD factions are slated to choose an MPR speaker and four deputies in nomination packages.

As the House has been polarized between the Red-and-White Coalition and Jokowi’s coalition, the DPD has become a determining factor for the two competing coalitions as they push their respective nomination packages.

The Red-and-White Coalition’s decision on Monday to name DPD member Akhmad Muqowam, also a PPP politician, created speculation among other political parties.

After naming Muqowam, the coalition — which backed losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election — scrapped the slot for the PPP to make way for the PKS.

As of Monday night, a faction of Golkar announced it would propose Djoko Udjianto from the Democratic Party, Golkar’s Mahyuddin, the PKS’ Hidayat Nur Wahid and the National Mandate Party’s (PAN) Zulkifli Hasan as their nomination package, leaving a slot for the DPD empty, pending voting at the DPD.

The DPD held its vote on Monday night.

Jokowi’s coalition, led by the PDI-P, tried to lure the disap-pointed PPP, which was left out of the MPR nomination, to join its camp.

The Jokowi coalition had earlier backed a plan to nominate a DPD member as MPR speaker, two deputies from the Red-and-White Coalition and another two from its own coalition.

The PDI-P has named its own representative, Ahmad Basarah, to join the nomination process.

House deputy speaker and Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon said the DPD’s move would not bother the Red-and-White Coalition in its bid to secure MPR chairmanship.

“In the end, it [the chairmanship] will depend on what the MPR members want,” Fadli told reporters. (Hasyim Widhiarto and Haeril Halim)