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Prabowo shores up support for incoming government via Idul Fitri ‘safari’
Prabowo has made good on the Idul Fitri tradition of silaturahmi (strengthening kinship) by turning up at the holiday gatherings of existing as well as potential political allies, amid hints at a possible meeting between him and PDI-P matriarch Megawati.
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President-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka (center) attend a breaking-of-the-fast event hosted by the Golkar Party on March 29, 2024 in Jakarta. (Antara/Erlangga Bregas Prakoso)
P
rabowo Subianto has apparently seized the opportunity presented by the Idul Fitri holiday to strengthen his existing ties and win over potential allies, in a move likely intended to shore up political support for his incoming government.
The president-elect spent his morning on Thursday, the second day of the two-day Idul Fitri holiday, breakfasting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the First Family at Merdeka Palace.
President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana are seen at the palace entrance welcoming Prabowo, accompanied by his only son Didit Hediprasetyo, in a video released by Prabowo’s campaign team. Shortly afterward, the President’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep and his wife Erina Gudono join the group.
The Gerindra Party chairman continued his “political safari” later that day, turning up at the private gatherings of political party elites that supported his presidential bid, including Golkar Party chair Airlangga Hartarto and Golkar advisory board head Aburizal Bakrie, National Mandate Party (PAN) chair Zulkifli Hasan and Gerindra’s senior politician Sufmi Dasco Ahmad.
Maintaining a brisk pace, Prabowo traveled out of town on Friday to visit former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his private residence in Cikeas, West Java.
The Defense Minister described his visit to the founder of the Democratic Party, another Gerindra ally, as “a Lebaran visit to a senior”.
Despite his insistence these visits were intended “to strengthen silaturahmi [kinship]”, political observers viewed Prabowo’s tour as a political move to foster unity among his party’s allies.
