An event marking the anniversary of the death of Taufiq Kiemas on Wednesday turned into a conclave of the country’s most powerful, as political bigwigs thronged the home of Megawati Soekarnoputri, Taufiq’s widow and chief matron of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Guests at the shindig on Jl. Teuku Umar in Central Jakarta included Surya Paloh of the Nasdem Party, Wiranto of the Hanura Party and Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB), all of whom are members of the PDI-P-led coalition that supports President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as well as Fadli Zon of the opposition Gerindra Party.

The newly installed chairs of two parties that have seen internal turmoil in recent times, Setya Novanto of Golkar and Muhammad Romahurmuziy of the United Development Party (PPP), were also spotted.

Jokowi, who has conversely never been a senior party figure, also attended the event marking the third year since Taufiq’s death.

The President regaled the assembly with a eulogy for Taufiq, a former People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker, remembering him as a “sincere person” who “solved numerous conflicts between individuals and institutions [...] and friction between [political] parties.”

“He served as a constant bridge to restore unity among conflicting individuals and institutions,” he noted.

Born in Jakarta on Dec. 31, 1942, Taufiq, who dedicated his life to helping his wife lead the PDI-P, was elected MPR speaker for the 2009-2014 period during the tenure of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a time when the party, alongside Gerindra, constituted the sole opposition.

Gerindra remained outside the government after parting ways with the PDI-P in the 2014 elections and supporting its own chief patron, Prabowo Subianto, as presidential candidate.

The highly polarized election led to Jokowi’s first year in power being mired in a struggle to reconcile those parties that had supported him with those that had backed Gerindra’s choice.

His efforts, though, have born plentiful fruit and now no major party openly opposes the government.

Jokowi reminded the political elite that Taufiq had inspired people with his enduring efforts to promote the nation’s four pillars and the state ideology of Pancasila.

Wednesday’s event was opened by chants of tahlil (prayers for the dead) and dzikir (praise to God), before the chairmen of the country’s largest and second-largest Muslim organizations — Said Aqil Siradj of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Haedar Nashir of Muhammadiyah — gave tausiyah (sermons).

Said Aqil said only Taufiq had had the qualities needed to bring together such disparate figures as the children of late Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) leader DN Aidit and the late founder of the radical State of Indonesia (NII).

Haedar was of the same opinion, saying that the country needed figures like Taufiq who had “played a role as a unifier of the nation”.

Jokowi opened his speech by making a joke about a Cabinet reshuffle, alluding to rife speculation last month.

“Just before I continue, I would like to clarify to Said Aqil about NU’s ministers. I secretly counted and found that there were six. As for Muhammadiyah, since Haedar didn’t ask me to, I didn’t count,” Jokowi said.

“It reminds me of the reshuffle,” he added, drawing laughter from the audience.

Setya meanwhile said he had learned a lot from Taufiq, including the importance of “communicating with all existing parties”.

“He is my idol,” said Muhaimin, giving a thumbs up.

The PKB leader was relaxed about Jokowi’s witticism, saying that it was “the prerogative of the President”.

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