•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

After holding out against signing a new contract that would bind it more closely to the ruling coalition, the Golkar Party said on Friday that it had come up with a new idea to strengthen the bloc.

Golkar’s Priyo Budi Santoso, a House of Representatives deputy speaker, said there had been “reciprocal communications” between the party and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the issue in the past two days.

“Now I’m sure there will be a more positive decision on the matter [of bolstering the coalition],” he said.

“I think we should wait for the president to publicly announce the new deal.”

Priyo was among the Golkar officials who harshly criticized the new coalition contract offered by the government.

The contract obliges all member parties to support any decision made by the coalition’s joint secretariat. It also requires them to give full legislative backing to all government policies.

However, a source within the coalition who declined to be identified said Golkar had signed a different contract.

The source said this new contract did not require Golkar legislators to stop challenging government policies.

It also reconfigures the makeup of the coalition’s joint secretariat, elevating Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie from his position as daily manager of the secretariat to Yudhoyono’s de facto deputy.

Under the new contract, the source said, daily activities at the secretariat would now be handled by secretary Syarif Hassan, a member of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, while the chairmen of the parties would take turns leading meetings.

When asked to comment on the revelation about the new contract, Priyo did not deny it.

“Maybe it’s true,” he said.

Saan Mustopha, a deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party, said he had not heard anything about Golkar signing a new contract with the president.

“But we would be very happy if they have finally signed it,” he said. “That means there will be greater commitment toward consolidating the coalition.”

He added that the Democrats would never try to prevent Golkar from voicing any criticism of government policies.

What the party wanted, he said, was for Golkar to discuss its criticism and grievances with the other coalition partners before airing them in public.

“President Yudhoyono really respects democracy and always teaches us to implement its principles,” Saan said.

“But that doesn’t mean going rogue over strategic issues related to government policy.”

National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa said the new coalition agreement was in essence the same as the old one signed at the start of the administration’s tenure in 2009.

“It just makes it more clear that we’re bound by the clauses,” he said.

“The soul of the contract is the same,” he added.