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As options dwindle, Prabowo pitches Aburizal on coalition
After thus far failing to win the support of another political party for his presidential bid, Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto held a meeting with Golkar Party chairman and presumptive presidential nominee Aburizal Bakrie to propose a political partnership ahead of the July 9 election
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fter thus far failing to win the support of another political party for his presidential bid, Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto held a meeting with Golkar Party chairman and presumptive presidential nominee Aburizal Bakrie to propose a political partnership ahead of the July 9 election.
After a 90-minute closed-door meeting, the two politicians spoke to reporters about their optimism that Gerindra and Golkar could join forces to form 'a formidable coalition' to win the presidential race.
'We are serious in thinking about working together for the sake of the country,' Prabowo said.
Aburizal declined to give details about the meeting and was noncommittal when asked about possibly pairing with Prabowo on one presidential ticket.
'We are still exploring what options we have to set up a possible coalition. Both still can be presidential candidates,' Aburizal said with a chuckle.
Aburizal was joined in the meeting by Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham and party treasurer Setya Novanto. Prabowo was accompanied by Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon and party secretary-general Ahmad Muzani.
According to quick counts, in the April 9 legislative election, Gerindra got 11 percent of the vote while Golkar garnered 14.3 percent ' both failing to meet the 25 percent threshold required to nominate a presidential candidate.
If the Golkar-Gerindra coalition materialized, Aburizal would likely be named its presidential candidate, given Golkar's stronger showing in the legislative election.
Aburizal, however, is less popular than Prabowo and consistently scores below the retired general in polls. Analysts have therefore suggested that Aburizal could become Prabowo's running mate.
Golkar senior politician Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has previously said that Aburizal would not accept being in the number two spot on a ticket, given the party's impressive performance in the legislative election.
Political analyst Arya Fernandes of Charta Politika also said a Golkar-Gerindra coalition would spell trouble as Prabowo would never give up his ambition to become president. 'Being a presidential candidate is non-negotiable for Prabowo and Gerindra,' he said.
Arya suggested that the coalition could take shape only if Golkar dropped Aburizal's bid in exchange for Cabinet seats in a possible Prabowo administration.
'Golkar politicians may be disappointed about the option but they must also be aware about Aburizal's low electability. So whether Golkar is willing to support Prabowo or not now pretty much depends on what kind of 'compensation' Gerindra is offering Golkar,' he said.
Both Aburizal and Prabowo also said that they had agreed to conduct more meetings in the future to more comprehensively discuss possible political cooperation.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians, meanwhile, suggested on Tuesday that its presidential candidate Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo was on the verge of officially getting pledges of support from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP).
'We are in deep discussion [on collaboration] with PKB and PPP,' said PDI-P senior politician Pramono Anung, who is also a deputy speaker at the House of Representatives. Jokowi has also earlier said: '[We are] almost there.'
