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PPP hints at plans to join Prabowo coalition
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United Development Party (PPP) acting chairman Muhamad Mardiono gestures on Feb. 17, 2023, at the party's 50th anniversary celebration in South Tangerang, Banten. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarok A)
T
he United Development Party (PPP) has given the biggest sign yet that it will be the first party to jump ship and join the coalition backing president-elect Prabowo Subianto, following its bruising defeat in the February general election.
The Muslim-based party supported the unsuccessful presidential candidacy of Ganjar Pranowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who lost a three-way race to Prabowo on Feb. 14. The PPP also lost its seats in the House of Representatives after failing to secure enough votes in the legislative election to send representatives there.
The party is currently challenging the legislative election results in 18 of the country’s 38 provinces at the Constitutional Court in a bid to overturn its loss and retain its House seats. The court is due to read out its rulings on legislative election disputes in June and is set to announce its decisions on presidential election disputes filed by Ganjar and candidate Anies Baswedan next week.
On Monday, PPP acting chair Muhamad Mardiono made a surprise appearance at a post-Idul Fitri gathering hosted by Golkar Party chair Airlangga Hartarto, a member of the Prabowo electoral alliance, and attended by other leaders of pro-Prabowo parties.
At the event, Mardiono congratulated Prabowo’s alliance for its victory in the presidential race.
Mardiono told reporters the next day that he had been invited to the gathering because of the PPP’s past partnership with Golkar and another pro-Prabowo party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), in the abortive United Indonesia Coalition (KIB). The KIB was the first electoral alliance to be established for the presidential election but failed to agree on which candidate to support.
“It wasn't strange that I was invited because I have been maintaining my ties and communication with [PAN chair] Zulkifli Hasan and Airlangga," he said, as quoted by Kompas.id.
