Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto’s careful response to the tension between Indonesia and China over Chinese fishing vessels in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Natuna Sea has drawn sharp criticism from some of the Gerindra Party chairman’s former allies.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), formerly one of Gerindra’s closest partners, issued a statement criticizing Prabowo’s perceived lack of firmness.

Prabowo had said that the government would handle the situation in a “cool” manner. “We are cool. We are relaxed. We can resolve this amicably. After all, China is a friendly nation,” he said last week.

PKS spokesperson Muhammad Kholid said in the statement that he regretted Prabowo’s “soft attitude” toward China.

“Pak Prabowo, as defense minister, should not take issues of sovereignty lightly. His response should be firm and authoritative. If it is soft and relaxed, this nation will be further degraded by other nations because we do not act with courage,” he said.

By contrast, Kholid praised Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi’s handling of the incident, calling it “assertive”.

In response to the PKS’ statement, Prabowo’s spokesperson Dahnil Simanjuntak issued a statement saying that the PKS seemed to want to “downgrade” Prabowo’s position as defense minister.

“[The PKS’ statement] ignores the fact that the defense minister’s response is the same as what the foreign affairs minister expressed in accordance with her authority in matters of foreign diplomacy,” Dahnil said.

Kholid issued a further statement saying that Prabowo should not be “allergic to criticism”.

Members of the conservative Muslim 212 Alumni (PA 212) association, another former Prabowo ally, seem to have also turned on the former general.

PA 212 legal division head Damai Hari Lubis said Jokowi should drop Prabowo from the defense minister position in remarks to CNN Indonesia.

PA 212 spokesperson Novel Bamukmin, however, told The Jakarta Post that the statement was Damai’s personal opinion and that the association was currently focused on helping the victims of the recent flooding in Greater Jakarta and Banten.

The association, however, previously called Prabowo a “traitor” for approaching the Jokowi coalition after the 2019 elections.

The caustic back and forth is a far cry from the PKS and PA 212’s previous relationship with Prabowo and Gerindra. No longer are the three organizations working together to win in the heated 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections or the 2019 presidential elections.

Since Prabowo’s surprise appointment as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s defense minister, both PKS — one of only three parties outside the government coalition in the House of Representatives — and PA 212 have been more critical of Prabowo than of Jokowi, formerly the party’s main political opponent.

Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin said that the PKS and PA 212’s strong words against Prabowo were a result of hurt feelings following the his decision to join the government coalition.

"I think they are very disappointed, especially since they backed Prabowo's presidential bid last year," he told the Post on Thursday. "[The PKS and PA 212] are the groups that lost the most from Prabowo's decision to join Jokowi's government."

He added, however, that the antagonistic exchanges would not prevent the groups from working together in the future.

"In politics, there are no eternal friends or eternal enemies, only interests," he said.

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