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.
Deal or no deal
The meeting between Megawati and Prabowo has further sent a strong signal that despite their differences, their commitment to national unity remains intact.
Change Size
Respectfully yours: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (left) smiles as Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto offers a gesture of respect after a closed meeting at the residence of the fifth Indonesian president, Megawati, on Jl. Teuku Umar, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between Megawati and Prabowo since the 2019 presidential election. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
M
any were relieved to see Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto, leaders of the country’s largest political parties, meet Wednesday after their bitter rivalry in April’s presidential and legislative elections. Gone, it seemed, was the enmity that marked the months-long competition between Megawati’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, which to some extent turned fierce, if not downright nasty.
The atmosphere of the meeting was reportedly warm and amicable, with Megawati cooking her signature nasi goreng (fried rice) for her guests. The encounter resembled a reunion between siblings or close friends.
The political elite always find a way to move on from contestation — they justified their acceptance of Wednesday’s reconciliatory meeting by saying it was for the good of the nation, even though their supporters have yet to heal their wounds.
There is always a wide gap in logic between the elite and the masses. For the elite, there is no eternal friend or foe, only interests. But the supporters of each side often take the political rivalry personally, as apparent, for example, in reactions across social media accounts.
To remove tension at the grass roots, reelected President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with Prabowo 11 days before the latter visited Megawati. The remaining members of the ruling coalition have also planned to hold a meeting with Prabowo.
We welcome any initiative to establish peace, considering the time, money and energy-sapping elections the nation endured. The meeting between Megawati and Prabowo has further sent a strong signal that despite their differences, their commitment to national unity remains intact. The meeting should therefore warrant political stability when Jokowi and Ma’ruf Amin lead the country as president and vice president respectively for the 2019-2024 term.
Stability and unity will be key as Indonesia faces a far more challenging world ahead. The nation will not be able to capitalize on its potentials and survive the global competition if it remains divided over domestic affairs.
We should give the political actors — Jokowi, Megawati, Prabowo and others — the benefit of doubt. Let us assume they met and will meet each other again simply for the greater good. At least they both belong to nationalist-oriented parties, which have pledged to uphold Indonesia’s founding principle of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).
It would not be unreasonable to assume that the power brokers talked in length about the nation when they met behind closed doors. It is not an exaggeration, too, to link the high-profile meeting with Gerindra’s quest for People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speakership, which the PDI-P is not eager to pursue after securing the House of Representatives’ top post. PDI-P allies, the Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party, are also eyeing the top spot at the MPR.
While this process is legitimate, the voters and the public at large need clarity as to what the elite have in mind about the post and the MPR in general moving forward, given the PDI-P’s long-standing bid to amend the Constitution, which falls under the MPR’s auspices.
