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Prabowo, Megawati make joint appearance for Pancasila Day
In the lead-up to the ceremony, Prabowo personally welcomed Megawati and exchanged jokes and pleasantries.
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Warming of ties: President Prabowo Subianto (right) holds a meeting with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri on April 7 in Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Sufmi Dasco Ahmad)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto and chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri on Monday made a rare joint appearance during the ceremony to celebrate the birth of the country's founding ideology Pancasila.
In the lead-up to the ceremony, Prabowo personally welcomed Megawati and exchanged jokes and pleasantries.
"You look thinner now. That's amazing, your weight loss program appears to be working," Prabowo told Megawati.
Also joining the two senior politicians were former vice presidents Try Sutrisno and Jusuf Kalla and a number of senior ministers in President Prabowo's Red and White cabinet.
The administration of former president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo made June 1 a national holiday as the official birth date of Pancasila. It was on June 1, 1945 that founding president Sukarno, Megawati's father, delivered a speech on the five principles.
Senior politician from President Prabowo's ruling Gerindra Party Ahmad Muzani said the decision to hold the official ceremony on Monday was made to allow Megawati to join the event.
"Yes, we adjusted the schedule for her," Muzani was quoted by Antara.
The Monday meeting was only the second joint appearance from Prabowo and Megawati this year, following the two politicians' meeting in April this year.
When asked if Prabowo and Megawati would have more meetings in the future, Muzani said: "It looks like that's what will happen."
The warming of ties between Prabowo and Megawati takes place as the latter's relationship with Jokowi deteriorated in the last one year.
Jokowi, who was nominated as president twice by the PDI-P in 2014 and in 2019, has taken steps that many deemed to be antagonistic toward Megawati, including his decision not to back the party's presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo in last year's presidential election.
