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Doubts as Prabowo, Megawati meetup plan in contention
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Gerindra Party patron Prabowo Subianto (second left) and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (center) smile on Thursday while taking a selfie with Megawati's daughter and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani (second right) on the sidelines of the opening of the PDI-P's fifth national congress, in Bali. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
P
resident-elect Prabowo Subianto’s efforts to bring the country’s biggest party into his government ahead of his inauguration on Sunday appear increasingly fraught, with outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo casting a long shadow over the selection process in the last days of his presidency.
Throughout Monday and Tuesday, Prabowo interviewed over 100 potential candidates for ministers, deputy ministers and heads of state institutions for closed-door talks at his residence on Jl. Kertanegara in Central Jakarta. Most were invited for a two-day orientation that Prabowo has hosted since Wednesday at his other residence in Hambalang, West Java.
But the glaring absence of politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest party in the legislature that has remained noncommittal about joining the new government – has cast doubt on a plan for Prabowo to meet with PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri in hopes of securing an absolute legislative majority.
The planned meeting – if it comes into fruition – is expected to determine the PDI-P’s position toward the incoming administration. But a fracture between Megawati and retiring President Jokowi, who became president on the PDI-P’s ticket, has become a complication.
There have been reports that the PDI-P might join Prabowo’s big coalition and be awarded seats in his cabinet amid signs of thawing relations between the two sides, which were opponents in February’s general election.
PDI-P executive Puan Maharani, who is also the daughter of Megawati, insisted Wednesday that the party “remains hopeful” that the chairwoman’s meeting with Prabowo will still happen, albeit without specifying a clear timeline.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, executive of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, earlier said that the plan was still on the table, also without elaborating.
