"I have got confirmation that the meeting will take place at about 04.00 PM," Golkar Party`s Deputy Treasurer Bambang Soesatyo said here Tuesday.
He said Golkar`s stance on the head of state`s plan to reshuffle his cabinet was already clear, namely the party was ready to remain part of the government coalition or become an opposition.
Bambang said his party would appreciate whatever President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would decide regarding Golkar`s presence in the coalition.
Golkar, runner-up in the 2009 parliamentary elections, had calculated all possible political consequences if it remained inside or jad to leave the coalition, he said.
In addition, its target was winning the 2014 parliamentary elections, he said.
"If President Yudhoyono keeps Golkar in the coalition, we will welcome it. But , if he kicks Golkar out, we will also accept it," he said.
Bambang said Golkar itself had remained consistent with its commitment to maintaining the government until 2014.
The discourse on a cabinet reshuffle has become a hot public issue over the past few weeks.
In this connection, the positions of ministers from the Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) are reportedly threatened after the two parties supported the tax mafia inquiry motion at the House of Representatives (DPR).
At the same time, the ruling Democrat and other members of the coalescing parties rejected the motion.
In response to this discourse, political observer Yunarto Wijaya of Charta Politika said it was the correct momentum for Yudhoyono to reduce the number of parties in the government coalition so that his administration would run more 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.
Yudhoyono was expected to 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.
(SYS/R013/A014)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
