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Prabowo allies ready to ‘put nation first’
Push and pull: People move boxes of ballots sent in from the districts following the recent presidential and legislative elections at the local general elections commission office in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday
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ush and pull: People move boxes of ballots sent in from the districts following the recent presidential and legislative elections at the local general elections commission office in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday. The commission said it expected to process district-level ballots by May 2.(Antara/Anis Efizudin)
Tension is easing between the rival camps in the presidential election as political parties have begun to weigh their options in the legislative and executive arms of the government after the elections.
The National Mandate Party (PAN), which supported the opposition ticket of Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno, has opened the way for reconciliation as chairman Zulkifli Hasan, who is also the speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), met with the incumbent, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
During the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Zulkifli expressed a plan for silaturahim or strengthening of relations among all parties after an “exhausting” election process in the past eight months.
PAN deputy chairman Bara Hasibuan said the meeting showed the good intention of Zulkifli and the party to put the interests of the nation above those of the party.
“There is an awareness on the part of [Zulkifli] to put the country above partisan interests. I appreciate the President’s goodwill. The two discussed plans for the future after April 17,” Bara told reporters at the House of Representatives building on Thursday.
He said it took a spirit of statesmanship of candidates and their supporters to put the country above all else.
Despite supporting Prabowo in the last two presidential races, the PAN, under Zulkifli, had become part of the government during Jokowi’s first tenure, which is why its reconciliatory gesture after the latest election may not come unexpected.
Early counts place the PAN among nine political parties that will make it into the House of Representatives, as it is estimated to have got about 6 percent of the vote in the legislative race.
The country held peaceful concurrent legislative and presidential elections on April 17, despite early concerns that the polls, as the world’s largest single-day election, would be marred with technical glitches.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is in the process of counting votes across the country, while conducting revotes in some areas were problems were encountered.
Tensions rose after voting booths had closed as both presidential election camps claimed victory.
Prabowo has made victory claims twice, despite quick counts from pollsters suggesting the incumbent won the election with 54 to 55 percent of the vote.
However, he also called on his supporters to watch the counting process and refrain from any unlawful action.
There have been efforts to communicate between the two rival camps in the past few days, with senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan saying he had called Prabowo and the two had had a good conversation.
But a meeting between Jokowi and Prabowo has yet to happen as both camps continue to scrutinize the vote-counting process.
Prabowo’s running mate Sandiaga said he believed the election had been done in an “accountable and fair” way.
“We have to guard the process. The C1 [vote tally forms] must be guarded. This is not about winning or losing. This is not about Prabowo-Sandiaga. We want a transparent and fair election,” he said.
Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team member Hasto Kristiyanto said that Jokowi and Ma’ruf would meet all national elites after the KPU announced the official election results on May 22.
He said the campaign team was currently waiting for the conclusion of the electoral process by the KPU.
“After the KPU announces the president- and vice president-elect, Jokowi-Ma’ruf will become the people’s president and vice president, no longer candidates nominated by political parties,” he said.
While opposition parties switching allegiance may be good for the incumbent, Indonesia Parliamentary Watch (Formappi) noted the importance of a strong opposition as a checks-and-balances force for the government, especially in lawmaking and budgeting.
“The voice of the opposition will not be heard [if opposition parties defect]. The situation may get worse if the opposition parties can only criticize, without suggesting solutions, just as they did from 2014-2019,” Formappi researcher Lucius Karus told The Jakarta Post.
