Indonesia
A brewing power struggle
Behind-the-scenes VP Jusuf Kalla has slowly, but surely, chipped away at his president's authority. Bill Guerin, Asia Times.
Jul 16 2006

JAKARTA - Just hours after the December 2004 tsunami battered Indonesia's coastal areas, Vice President Jusuf Kalla jumped into action.

Kalla unilaterally summoned the relevant ministers and from the ground began delegating relief efforts from the worst-hit province of Aceh.

Kalla signed an executive decree on December 30 authorising the formation of a national disaster relief team. Extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures, and the Indonesian government was widely lauded for its response to the massive humanitarian crisis.

But it was not lost on many political observers that Kalla had overstepped his constitutional authority by issuing a de facto vice presidential decree.

The unusual power dynamic between President Susilio Bambang Yudhoyono and Kalla has since led to much speculation that

Indonesia is effectively being guided by two leaders rather than one. Similar to the executive branch dynamic that has emerged in the US between President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Indonesia's charismatic vice president is single-handedly guiding many of the country's key policy decisions.

Kalla, a highly successful entrepreneur, was one of the chief financiers of Yudhoyono's successful 2004 presidential election campaign.

He is also now chairman of Indonesia's most powerful political party, Golkar, which underpinned former strongman Suharto's 32-year rule and continues to represent powerful vested interests in the military.

Kalla has required a return from his investment in Yudhoyono's rise and has emerged as the country's most powerful vice president.

Kalla's and Golkar's support gives Yudhoyono nominal control over the legislature, a majority his Democratic Party sorely lacked when he first assumed the presidency in October 2004.

At the same time, there is a growing perception among government insiders that Kalla's huge influence has recently become more of a threat than a complement to Yudhoyono's authority, and that the second-most powerful man in Indonesia is busily building a political power base aimed at defeating his current boss at the next presidential polls, which must be called by 2009.

The 64-year-old Kalla claims publicly that he has no ambition to become president, often saying that by 2009 he will be too old to run and that his ethnic background would hinder his ability to garner votes from the majority Javanese.

Those denials, of course, look past Golkar's extensive political reach at the grassroots level and the fact the party is now heavily invested in Kalla's political ascent.

From the outset of Yudhoyono's term, the two veteran politicians are said to have agreed to a division of labour.

Kalla was tasked with managing the economy while Yudhoyono handled broad issues related to politics, security and national strategies.

Kalla currently leads the government's infrastructure team and, according to local businessmen, has acted to accelerate several key construction projects.

Kalla's authority over trade and industry projects allows him to make decisions without consulting the president, government insiders say.

Also, Kalla has appeared to overstep those agreed boundaries - particularly in instances where a high-profile decision or appearance has acted to enhance his public image.

For instance, he played a key role in brokering last year's peace deal in Aceh between rebels and the government, and he continues to actively monitor the implementation of that internationally watched accord.

He had earlier played peacemaker in his home province of Sulawesi, though that pact between combative Christians and Muslims has not held up as well as expected.

"In several policy formulations, the position of the president is inferior to the vice president," said Eko Budhihardjo, rector of Semarang's Diponegoro University.

At times, "[Yudhoyono] is even subordinate to the vice president".

Yudhoyono had initially decided to postpone fuel price hikes planned for last year until after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but then abruptly raised them "when the vice president repeatedly stressed that the increase must be in October 2005", Budhihardjo said.

With Yudhoyono's permission, Kalla recently became the first vice president to hold an official state ceremony for a high-ranking foreign guest.

Indonesian diplomatic protocol requires that only presidents host such high-profile events, but Kalla in late April was allowed to borrow presidential guards and cannons to welcome a visiting South African deputy president...

Friend or foe?

Kalla is on record as admitting that the strategy to target Golkar's leadership was actually directed by Yudhoyono. "If that was the president's wish, I accept. I took it as a responsibility."

However, Jakarta-based political analysts note that as leader of parliament's largest faction, Kalla has from behind-the-scenes slowly but surely chipped away at Yudhoyono's authority.

Mohammad Qodari, of the Indonesia Survey Institute (LSI), described Kalla's victory as "a double-edged sword" for Yudhoyono, saying the move effectively acted to "accumulate all the power in Kalla's hands". (Excerpted)

For full article:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HG13Ae02.html