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Gerindra launches campaign committee, solidifies move for Prabowo’s third presidential bid
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Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto attends a Gerindra Party national leaders meeting, in Bogor, West Java, on Aug.12, 2022. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
T
he Gerindra Party has launched a campaign and electoral committee for its chairman Prabowo Subianto, solidifying his move to enter the 2024 presidential race despite having yet to break a political stalemate with its coalition partner.
Prabowo, who is also Defense Minister, took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the committee’s headquarters in Jakarta on Saturday, instructing party members to gear up for the upcoming general elections and be open to work with other parties.
“Let me reiterate again, this great country needs and has a large space. So we have to be able to work together with other political forces, with other political parties," said Prabowo.
Gerindra is optimistic that the committee’s headquarters will become a silent witness of Prabowo’s victory in the 2024 presidential race, Secretary-General Ahmad Muzani said, noting that it will serve as a place where stakeholders supporting Prabowo’s presidential bid convene meetings.
“All various kinds of forces who are pinning hopes on Prabowo becoming president in 2024 will meet here. Hopefully, this effort can be welcomed by the people,” Muzani said.
Prabowo announced his intent to run as a 2024 presidential candidate last year as his Gerindra Party entered into a political agreement with the Islam-based National Awakening Party (PKB), which has insisted on its nominating its chairman Muhaimin Iskandar as either a presidential candidate or Prabowo's running mate.
The alliance, analysts have said, is intended to combine Gerindra’s nationalist supporters and the PKB’s Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) religious base after Prabowo suffered back-to-back defeats in East Java, a traditional stronghold of NU, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, in previous elections.
