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NasDem, Dems align against election postponement
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Officials sort and fold ballots for the 2019 elections at a General Elections Commission (KPU) warehouse at STT Mandala University in Bandung, West Java, on April 1, 2019. (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
T
he pro-government NasDem Party has joined forces with the chief opposition Democratic Party to reject proposals by several executive-aligned factions to postpone the 2024 general election.
Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh met on Tuesday to discuss the debate over the proposed election delay, among other issues.
Agus said both parties had agreed to reject any notion of postponing the elections, which would automatically extend the current presidential and legislative terms.
“Retaining power by postponing elections cannot be accepted with common sense,” Agus told reporters after the meeting. “I believe that NasDem and the Democratic Party have the same firm stance: We should not tamper with the Constitution.”
Both Agus and Surya have publicly expressed their opposition to the idea of delaying the elections and have instructed party members to reject any formal proposals for a postponement in the House of Representatives.
NasDem Party central executive board chairman Willy Aditya, who was present at the meeting of the two party heads, said it was a follow-up to Surya’s visit to Agus’ father and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when the latter was being treated for prostate cancer in the United States late last year.
“Surya asked for the unproductive discourse [of delaying the elections] to be stopped,” said Willy.
