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Pro-Jokowi parties close ranks as election near
PDI-P, NasDem conspicuously absent at iftar event with President.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (third right), accompanied by National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Zulkifli Hasan (second right), Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (third left), Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto (second left), National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar (left) and United Development Party (PPP) acting chairman Muhamad Mardiono (right), gives a press statement after attending a Ramadan gathering at the PAN central executive board office in Jakarta on April 2, 2023. The heads of all the political parties in the pro-government coalition attended the event. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
Five of the seven pro-government political parties in the legislative body are expected to build a grand alliance for the 2024 presidential election amid speculations of strained relations between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the establishment of his own political party.
A gathering of party elites involving members of the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) and the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition (KIR) at an iftar event on Sunday produced an understanding between the two alliances over the possibility of building a big-tent coalition to nominate a unified presidential ticket in the next election.
The five political parties involved were the Gerindra Party, the Golkar Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN). The NasDem Party, which backs opposition figure Anies Baswedan, and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has enough seats in the legislative body to go it alone in the 2024 presidential race, were conspicuously absent from the meeting.
"It turns out that there is an agreement and we're on the same wavelength and we can work together," Gerindra leader Prabowo Subianto told reporters after the event. He also said the planned electoral alliance, if it materialized, could back a ticket supported by President Jokowi. "We're already in Pak Jokowi's team, aren't we?"
Read also: Analysis: PDI-P contemplates Ganjar-Prabowo pairing
Sans PDI-P?
The political iftar event came after what appears to be an unspoken conflict between the President and the PDI-P, of which he is a member, over the question of Israel’s participation at the 2023 Under-20 World Cup, which swiftly led to the shock removal of Indonesia as the host by FIFA.
