TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Prabowo: Anies and I put the past behind us over fried rice
Change Size
Gerindra Party leader Prabowo Subianto (second left), Prosprerous Justice Party (PKS) politician Salim Segaf al-Jufri (right) and PKS president Sohibul Iman (left) flank the 2017 gubernatorial candidate pair backed by the two parties, Anies Baswedan (third left) and Sandiaga Uno during the campaign team meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
G
erindra Party leader Prabowo Subianto said differences in politics did not always have to be resolved in a serious manner but could be ironed out over a plate of fried rice.
“When Gerindra and the PKS [Prosperous Justice Party] decided to endorse Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uni for the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, some people began to bring up the past. I am sure that since Anies tasted my fried rice, he loves me now,” Prabowo said during a meeting of the Anies-Sandiaga campaign team in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by the Antara news agency.
Prabowo was referring to Anies’ positioning during the 2014 presidential campaign, when Anies was working for Prabowo’s rival, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Anies at the time called the Prabowo camp’s campaign “unhealthy” and said Prabowo was endorsed by “mafioso”.
Prabowo said the process to rally behind Anies and Sandiaga had not been easy. It had required everyone’s magnanimity and statesmanship before all could accept Anies and Sandiaga.
He noted the PKS’ magnanimity in not insisting on fielding a candidate from its own cadre as Anies’ running mate. He also praised Sandiaga, who had initially planned to be a gubernatorial candidate, for eventually accepting a deputy nomination. (evi)
