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Democrats to explore possible alliance with PDI-P
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Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (left) addresses the press on Aug. 11, 2023, at the party’s headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
The opposition Democratic Party is seeking to explore its alliance options, particularly with the largest pro-government party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), ahead of what is expected to be a fast-tracked deadline for the registration of presidential candidate pairs next month.
The Democrats have been searching for new allies for the 2024 presidential election since quitting the alliance that backed opposition figurehead Anies Baswedan earlier this month when Anies chose National Awakening Party (PKB) chair Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate over Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.
To this end, Agus said that the party will be announcing its decision at an upcoming national coordination meeting, although he failed to mention when the meeting would take place.
“Because of recent political dynamics, we had to postpone [the national coordination meeting],” Agus said on Saturday, during the Democrats’ 22nd anniversary event. “But we will do it soon. And by then, we will have already made a decision that will determine the course of the party going forward.”
His statement came amid persistent rumors that the Democrats are actively looking to forge a new alliance with the PDI-P, the largest party in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ruling coalition, to back its presidential nominee Ganjar Pranowo.
The two parties have a long-standing history of opposition to each other and bad blood between party founders Megawati Soekarnoputri of the PDI-P and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also known as SBY, of the Democrats.
Democratic Party executive Herman Khaeron said on the sidelines of Saturday’s event that a meeting with the apparent PDI-P heir, Puan Maharani, is currently in the works.
