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Gerindra undecided on joining coalition
The Gerindra Party has decided to hold off on making a decision over whether to join the ruling coalition — at least until the party’s national working meeting in September
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span>The Gerindra Party has decided to hold off on making a decision over whether to join the ruling coalition — at least until the party’s national working meeting in September.
The leading opposition party has said that while its elites are leaning toward staying outside the government coalition, it remains divided over whether it should now officially back President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who defeated the party’s leader, Prabowo Subianto, in two consecutive elections.
“The party’s political direction would be decided on in September during the national working meeting,” party spokesman Andre Rosiade said at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Talks over Gerindra’s plan to enter the State Palace escalated on the heels of a meeting between Prabowo and Jokowi at the MRT station in Lebak Bulus over the weekend. The meeting was widely seen as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation between the two leaders after months of a bitterly fought presidential race.
Prabowo, Andre said, was planning to hold a meeting with party patrons, volunteers, clerics and members of parties in his coalition this Friday to discuss the possibility of joining the ruling coalition.
“Pak Prabowo will meet and inform them about the results of the meeting [with Jokowi], and listen to their viewpoints on what is best for the country. That would be the basis of Prabowo’s and Gerindra’s decision.”
It is unclear who within Gerindra supports the idea of joining the Jokowi camp, but other party executives have confirmed the split.
“Andre was not wrong. Some want [to join the Jokowi coalition], some don’t. I have talked to all of them but I am not sure what the rationale is for those who want to join. We will listen to their opinions on Friday. I am neutral and would follow Pak Prabowo,” the party’s deputy chairman, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, said.
Jokowi, who will be inaugurated for his second presidential term on Oct. 20, said he was open to the possibility of welcoming any parties, including Gerindra, to his coalition. However, he suggested during his speech on Sunday that it was better for some parties to stay in their camp.
Prabowo has signaled that he wanted to remain on the opposition side, saying that he would never compromise his values and vision for “an independent, sovereign, just and prosperous Indonesia”.
Gerindra executive Sodik Mujahid said the party would cooperate with Jokowi, but that did not mean it would join his Cabinet.
The National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party, meanwhile, are reportedly waiting for an invite from the President.
PAN deputy chairman Bara Hasibuan said it was up to the President to decide whether to bring the party into the coalition.
He said almost all party executives backed the idea of joining the government, simply because PAN had historically been a progovernment party.
Democratic Party secretary-general Rachland Nashidik, meanwhile, said party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would hear out the opinions of the party’s rank and file before making any decisions.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) executive Andreas Hugo Pareira said Jokowi knew he needed an opposition and therefore not all opposition parties would be invited to join.
Jakarta-based Voxpol Center Research and Consulting executive director Pangi Syarwi Chaniago said it was better for Gerindra and the country’s democracy for the party to stay in place.
