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SBY waits for invitation to meet with Jokowi
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (left) and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto meet at the Presidential Palace on Thursday. A Democratic Party official said on Friday that party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was currently in "wait and see" mode regarding an invitation to meet Jokowi. (Antara/Widodo S Jusuf)
F
ormer president and chairman of the Democratic Party Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is willing to visit the Presidential Palace if President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo invites him, the party’s spokesman has said.
“SBY’s position is currently wait and see. [He is] waiting for a signal or good news. There is no obstruction from SBY,” the party’s spokesman Roy Suryo said on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
(Read also: Prabowo visits Jokowi, offers help after Ahok named suspect)
On Thursday, Jokowi invited Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto to have lunch at the palace, one day after the police named Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case.
On Nov. 4, hundreds of thousands of people led by Muslim conservatives, staged a rally in front of the State Palace, demanding that the government prosecute Ahok for blasphemy.
The rally ended in chaos with two police cars set on fire. Jokowi later accused “political actors” of being behind the chaotic rally.
Responding to the suggestion that Jokowi should invite SBY for a meeting, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said a meeting between Jokowi and SBY could be held anytime.
“A political meeting could be conducted anytime,” Wiranto said at the palace complex on Friday.
Jokowi’s party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has endorsed Ahok for the gubernatorial election next year.
Gerindra has endorsed former education and culture minister Anies Baswedan while the Democrats are backing SBY’s son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono. (jun)
