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Where's Hatta? Absence stirs speculation of Prabowo rift
With vice-presidential candidate Hatta Rajasa absent from the scene as of late Wednesday, many have speculated that a rift has occurred within the Prabowo Subianto Gerindra Party-led coalition
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ith vice-presidential candidate Hatta Rajasa absent from the scene as of late Wednesday, many have speculated that a rift has occurred within the Prabowo Subianto Gerindra Party-led coalition.
Hatta was nowhere to be seen after the General Elections Commission (KPU) officially announced that the Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo-Jusuf Kalla ticket had won the election on Tuesday.
Hatta was also absent from a number of high-level meetings involving leaders of political parties in the Prabowo coalition, including one held at Polonia House in Jakarta, the coalition's campaign headquarters on Tuesday, which resulted in Prabowo pulling out of the presidential race.
Later on Tuesday, a number of National Mandate Party (PAN) executives said that the former coordinating economic minister would make a press statement on Wednesday. The plan, however, did not materialize.
Hatta also did not show up at PAN headquarters in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Tuesday afternoon for a scheduled press briefing. Many have speculated that Hatta would congratulate Jokowi-Kalla on their win, a stark contrast to Prabowo's belligerent tone.
It was later known that Hatta had been holding a series of meetings with a number of PAN executives at his private residence in South Jakarta.
A number of senior PAN politicians took part in the meeting, namely party chief patron Amien Rais, deputy chairman Drajad Wibowo, secretary-general Taufik Kurniawan and central board member Tjatur Sapto Edy.
PAN deputy secretary-general Adib Zain acknowledged that Hatta had been busy consulting with the party's top executives.
'[Hatta] has been in meetings with the members of the party's central board, so let's just wait,' Adib told reporters at the party's headquarters on Wednesday.
Adib said Hatta would make an announcement on the party's stance toward the election result soon.
Adib further said that Hatta's absence during Prabowo's public speech on Tuesday was due to 'family matters'.
Reports said Hatta was welcoming a new grandchild.
Unconfirmed rumors also said that a number of PAN officials had been in talks with the Jokowi-Kalla camp shortly after quick-count results published by credible pollsters put the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)-led ticket in the lead.
Drajad denied the report. 'PAN sticks to its decision to be part of the Red and White coalition. The rumor is not true,' he said on Wednesday.
Contradicting Adib's statement, Drajad said that Hatta's absence from Prabowo's campaign headquarters on Tuesday was due to an 'important commitment'.
Golkar Party politician Tantowi Yahya, who served as the coalition's spokesman, said that Prabowo took no issue with Hatta's no-show. 'We understand his situation,' he said.
Tantowi said that the presence of Amien and Taufik during the coalition's Tuesday meeting could be seen as Hatta's endorsement of Prabowo's move.
Earlier, PAN executive Bima Arya claimed that Hatta would strike a conciliatory tone toward Jokowi. 'Hatta will respect the whole election,' said Bima, who is the mayor of Bogor.
Muhammad Qodari, the executive director of noted pollster Indo Barometer, said that he believed Hatta had actually accepted the election result.
'Hatta has had electoral experience since 2004. He is a rational person, so he must understand the reliability of quick counts and the whole election,' he said.
