emocratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has canceled a meeting with Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto scheduled for Wednesday after the former president fell ill and was hospitalized.
“The meeting between Yudhoyono and Prabowo has been canceled because Yudhoyono is too tired following his [tour] to Pacitan [in East Java] and Yogyakarta,” Democrat deputy chairman Syariefuddin Hasan said on Wednesday, adding that Yudhoyono had been receiving medical treatment at the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) in Central Jakarta since Tuesday.
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Yudhoyono was scheduled to meet with Prabowo at his house in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, to talk about the possibility of forming a coalition for the 2019 presidential race.
The meeting was reportedly intended to be a follow up to the plan of pairing Prabowo, who will likely challenge incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, with Agus Harimurti, Yudhoyono’s eldest son, as his vice presidential candidate.
The Democratic Party is one of three parties, besides the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and National Mandate Party (PAN), that has yet to make a decision on whether to throw its support behind either Prabowo or Jokowi.
Previously, the party suggested pairing Agus with Jokowi. However, Jokowi and the political parties in his coalition, including the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), reportedly turned down Yudhoyono’s proposal.
The cancelation of the meeting came just hours after Prabowo held a meeting with Puan Maharani, the daughter of PDI-P chairwomen Megawati Soekarnoputri, on Tuesday afternoon at a secret location.
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