Vice-president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka gave on Monday the first indication that he and president-elect Prabowo Subianto are in talks over the formation of their new cabinet, marking the start of a period of lobbying and political self-parading to secure seats in government.

Gibran, who is expected to represent his father President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s interests once he steps down in October, had preferred to stay out of the limelight in the aftermath of their landslide election win that the General Elections Commission (KPU) confirmed last week.

The pair snatched an unassailable victory in the Feb. 14 presidential race, having secured a whopping 96.2 million votes, equal to 58.6 percent of all total ballots cast.

The rival camps of Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD, who trailed behind with 41 million and 27 million votes, respectively, are both in the midst of challenging the election returns with an eye on a revote, based on allegations of widespread election fraud, misuse of authority and other unsavory tactics.

But that has not stopped Defense Minister Prabowo and Surakarta Mayor Gibran from discussing who gets to join their government later this year, should the decision stand.

The pair had apparently started talking about cabinet composition during closed-door talks in Jakarta on Friday, Gibran revealed to journalists on Monday.

"We talked about a lot of things, including the new cabinet and [the option to involve] political parties outside of our coalition," Gibran was quoted by Tempo.co as saying.

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