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Gerindra politician Muzani elected as MPR speaker
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Lawmakers attend a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) plenary session at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta on Oct. 2, 2024. (Antara/Dhemas Reviyanto)
G
erindra Party lawmaker Ahmad Muzani was unanimously elected on Wednesday as the new People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker for the next five years, strengthening president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s consolidation of power in the legislative institutions, already dominated by parties aligned with him.
Muzani, the secretary-general of Prabowo’s Gerindra, will take the oath of office on Thursday after representatives of eight political parties at the House of Representatives and those of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) agreed during an hour-long deliberation on Wednesday evening to name him the next speaker of the MPR.
He was elected alongside eight new deputy speakers, including Bambang Wuryanto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Kahar Muzakir of the Golkar Party.
While the formal meeting to select the MPR speaker only began on Wednesday night, a Gerindra lawmaker said that lobbying behind the scenes had taken place days before.
"We from Gerindra have been lobbying other parties for a while. God willing, our hope of seeing Muzani become the MPR speaker will come true,” Gerindra lawmaker Rachel Maryam Sayidina said on Wednesday.
Analysts said Muzani’s elevation to the MPR speaker indicated that Prabowo might be seeking to keep the balance of power at the legislature in his favor to ensure political stability under his presidency.
“The symbolism is important,” Aditya Perdana, a lecturer in political science at the University of Indonesia (UI), told The Jakarta Post. He noted that the MPR would be the institution that will inaugurate Prabowo and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka on Oct. 20.
