TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Gerindra, PDI-P agree to push for Prabowo-Megawati meeting
Top party executives have signaled an impending meeting between their two leaders, following the recent renewal of long-delayed plans over Idul Fitri with the President's son Didit playing "cupid".
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Megawati Soekarnoputri (left), chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), smiles as Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto greets her on July 24, 2019, after a closed-door meeting at her private residence on Jl. Teuku Umar in Menteng, Central Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
A
fter months of delays, the Gerindra Party and the de facto opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have agreed to push for a long-awaited meeting between their respective leaders, President Prabowo Subianto and Megawati Soekarnoputri, according to several senior politicians from both sides.
Senior Gerindra politician Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, who is also House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, said he had spoken about a renewed plan for the Prabowo-Megawati meeting with PDI-P executive and Megawati’s daughter Puan Maharani, who is also his direct superior as House Speaker.
“We both have agreed that [a meeting] should take place as soon as possible,” Dasco said on Wednesday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
“When will it happen, exactly? Let’s just wait and see. I briefly discussed it with Mbak [Ms.] Puan earlier,” he added.
Expectations have been high for a potential meeting between the two leaders since the end of the 2024 presidential election, which Prabowo won, but the encounter has yet to occur.
Analysts have said the fractured relationship between Megawati and former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was stripped of his PDI-P membership for backing Prabowo instead of the party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo, had complicated plans for a meeting.
The renewed plan surfaced after Prabowo’s son, Ragowo “Didit” Hediprasetyo, visited Megawati’s private residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, for the first day of Idul Fitri on Monday. When asked about the purpose of his visit, Didit told reporters he had come to offer his holiday greetings.
