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Ruling coalition remains solid: Jokowi
Jokowi said it was normal for the political figures to meet each other.
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Looking good: Wearing a sarong, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (front right), accompanied by Salahuddin Wahid (front left), a cleric and a leader of the Tebuireng Islamic boarding school, tours the Museum Islam Indonesia in Jombang, East Java. The President inaugurated the museum on Dec. 18, 2018. (The Jakarta Post/Aman Rochman)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said on Friday that the political parties supporting him remained solid despite recent steps taken by members of the ruling coalition.
"The [ruling] coalition remains solid. More solid than before," Jokowi said on Friday night in an event to dismiss his presidential campaign team at a restaurant in Central Jakarta.
Jokowi has officially been declared the winner of the April presidential election, securing 55.5 percent of the vote or over 85 million ballots.
Opposition leader and Jokowi’s former rival Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra Party stirred up the ruling camp when he met Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest party in Jokowi’s coalition, to talk about his party’s options should it join the government.
Gerindra has laid out several terms for the possibility, including adopting its concept in food and energy, which would give it control over several ministerial posts.
The party’s courtship with Jokowi and PDI-P was not well-received by other members in the coalition. On the same day as the Megawati-Prabowo meeting, NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh met with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who was once favorited as a presidential candidate by the opposition camp, in a move that hinted its discontent.
Jokowi said it was normal for the political figures to meet each other.
"They have been friends for a long time. It's normal for Pak Prabowo to meet Bu Mega, and for Pak Surya Paloh to meet Pak Anies, as well," he said.
After the meeting with Prabowo, Megawati said she had told Prabowo that political differences should no longer be amplified since the presidential election was over.
Megawati's PDI-P is not entirely against the possibility of Gerindra joining the ruling coalition, as some party executives have opened up to the possibility of forming an alliance with the Prabowo-led party to run for People's Representatives Assembly (MPR) leadership.
Surya, in a tone that critics have interpreted as a sign of disapproval of Gerindra, said his party might back Anies in the 2024 presidential race.
