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Gerindra undecided on joining ruling coalition
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Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto. (AFP/Romeo Gacad)
T
he 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.
