internal dynamics of the prosperous justice party and jamaah tarbiyah 71
In Yudhoyono’s second term, the pks played the game of political
hostage several times. The first case was in relation to the pks’s participa-
tion in initiating a special parliamentary committee in December 2009
to inquire into alleged illegal bailouts by the Indonesian Central Bank
under Budiono (then newly elected vice president) and former Finance
Minister Sri Mulyani, to save the failing Century Bank. This was a serious
case as it could lead to an inquiry about Yudhoyono’s campaign funds in
the run up to the presidential election. President Yudhoyono saw the
pks’s move as deviant. He believed that as it was a coalition partner and
had received cabinet portfolios in his administration, it was supposed
to back his position. Indeed, the President struck back. Muhammad
Misbakhun, a pks politician who was among the initiators of the Century
Bank inquiry in Parliament, was reported to the police for submitting
fictitious credits to the failed Century Bank. Misbakhun was found guilty
and was sentenced to two years in jail and expelled by his party from
Parliament.⁹⁵
In the summer of 2011, the pks joined the opposition parties and
proposed to increase oil prices in order to reduce the budget deficit, whilst
the government now desperately rejected any plan to increase oil prices,
fearing the public’s negative reaction. The President’s Democratic Party
harshly criticised the pks’s moves as unethical, and urged the pks to leave
the coalition if it did not want to support the government. pks Members
of Parliament replied that they were just doing what parliamentarians
should do, namely, channelling public political aspirations. In October
2011, Yudhoyono sacked the pks Minister of Research and Technology,
Suharna Suryapranata, and gave the post to his own party.⁹⁶
The decision of the pks to remain in the coalition but at the same time
constantly criticise the government was caused by the internal dynamics
and tension between the reformists who wanted to build a positive public
image of the party and the pragmatists who did not want the party to
lose its cabinet portfolios. The situation caused a particular dilemma for
pks ministers in the cabinet, such as the Minister of Communication
and Information, Tifatul Sembiring, who was accused of becoming the
mouthpiece of the government, while his own party criticised government
policies.⁹⁷
http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2011/06/10/078339847/PKS-Siapkan-Pengganti
-Misbakhun-Arifinto-dan-Yoyoh.
http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2011/10/18/18581479/Menristek.Suharna
.Surapranata.Sudah.Berpamita.
Interview with Sapto Waluyo, Jakarta.Kompas, 15 April 2009.Koran Tempo, 8
March 2011.