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Coalition courtship picks up ahead of 2024 election
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Officials sort and fold ballots for the 2019 elections at a General Election Commission (KPU) warehouse at STT Mandala University in Bandung, West Java, on April 1, 2019. (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
P
arty leaders looking to the 2024 presidential election have begun meeting with peers and erstwhile rivals to explore possible electoral alliances, but divergent ambitions and a wide-open field keep the future landscape unpredictable.
Gerindra Party chairman and presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto met with NasDem Party leader Surya Paloh at the latter’s office in Jakarta on Wednesday for their first official meeting since Surya expressed his opposition to Prabowo joining the pro-government coalition in 2019.
After a five-hour closed-door meeting, the leaders told the press they had seen eye to eye on prioritizing national stability during the upcoming presidential race.
“Gerinda and NasDem have an understanding that we must maintain national stability. We invite [everyone] to build awareness of […] a healthier political culture. Our respect for one another must be maintained. Competition should not cause us to bring each other down,” Surya told reporters.
But the two party leaders remained noncommittal on the possibility of forging an alliance.
“He has constituents; I have constituents. We are responsible to our own parties. Whatever happens, we are committed to protecting [the state ideology of] Pancasila to maintain the integrity of the nation. We are concerned about more than just the election," Prabowo told reporters.
Surya concurred.
