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Andi Arief to stay with Dems after attacking Sandiaga last week
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Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto (center) and running mate Sandiaga Uno (right) pose alongside Agus Harimurti of the Democratic Party after registering their candidacy with the General Elections Commission (KPU) recently. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Democratic Party has confirmed that its member Andi Arief, who recently caused a political ruckus, would stay with the party and support presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto and running mate Sandiaga Uno.
Andi previously accused the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) of accepting Rp 500 billion (US$34,225) as a “political payment” from Sandiaga in exchange for his endorsement.
Both parties denied the accusation and the PKS even planned to sue Andi for defamation.
Democrat senior politician Ferdinand Hutahaean said on Tuesday that the problem would be addressed using the party’s “internal mechanism”, without elaborating on further details.
“Andi Arief said he would support presidential candidate pair Prabowo and Sandiaga,” Ferdinand said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co. He added that the party would also communicate with PAN and PKS executives to resolve the issue.
The Democratic Party decided in the eleventh hour to join the Gerindra Party-led coalition including PAN and the PKS, and to endorse the Prabowo-Sandiaga pair after failing to get the VP nomination for its senior member, Agus Harimurti, the son of Democratic chief patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Ferdinand emphasized that only Yudhoyono or general secretary Hinca Panjaitan — after being approved by Yudhoyono — could be referred to for the party's official stance and statements. (vny/swd)
