Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A political observer of Charta Politika, Yunarto Wijaya, said now was the correct momentum for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reduce the number of parties in the government coalition so that his administration would run effectively.

"The large size of the coalition has proven to be ineffective and put shackles on the government so that the administration over the past one and a half years was not effective as it was shackled by the interest of political parties," Yunarto said here on Monday.

Yunarto said he hoped Yudhoyono would use the momentum to down size the cabinet posture so that it would become more professional by including elements which were free from interests that shackle the cabinet.

He said the change in the composition of the coalition by excluding those considered to have violated their commitment and include others in the cabinet would not have a significant impact on the government`s performance.

"Letting one party go but asking another one to come in to replace it to maintain the coalition strength is only a mirage," he said.

He said that by asking other political parties like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and Gerindra (the Greater Indonesia Movement Party ) to replace the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) the president would face difficulties in giving incentives to a loyal party or in taking ministers from the professional circle.

"The president has the logic that if A is excluded from the coalition B must be included in the alliance to maintain strenth.But this will automatically reduce the room for him to provide reward for loyal parties or to take ministers from professionals to support his government," he said. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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