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After failed MPR bid, Gerindra takes another shot at next Jokowi Cabinet
Following its failure to secure control over the People’s Representatives Assembly (MPR), the Gerindra Party has returned to bargaining for posts in the next Cabinet of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chief Megawati Soekarnoputri (center) poses for a picture with her daughter and fellow party politician Puan Maharani (right) and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) during the PDI-P's national congress in Denpasar, Bali, on Aug. 8. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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ollowing its failure to secure control over the People’s Representatives Assembly (MPR), the Gerindra Party has returned to bargaining for posts in the next Cabinet of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in its latest attempt to maintain a strong presence on the national political scene.
Finishing second in the April legislative election, behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party led by Prabowo Subianto has lost its MPR speaker post to the Golkar Party, which gained slightly less of the vote in the legislative race.
The assembly, which consists of members of the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), has agreed to appoint Golkar’s Bambang Soesatyo as MPR speaker, after no parties showed support for Ahmad Muzani of Gerindra.
Ahmad withdrew his candidacy after Prabowo himself had told him to give up for the sake of the party’s "greater strategic" interests and due to majority support for Bambang, who was backed by nine of the 10 factions in the assembly.
The PDI-P, which had earlier expressed its openness to Gerindra’s MPR bid, favored Golkar in the last hours after Bambang said he would support a plan of Jokowi’s largest ally to amend the Constitution.
The PDI-P’s decision came after Prabowo had met PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday evening, before Bambang was announced as speaker, and speculation was rife that Prabowo had made a deal with Megawati for a ministerial post in the upcoming Jokowi Cabinet.
