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Gerindra appoints Prabowo’s niece Rahayu Saraswati as deputy chairwoman
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Gerindra Party lawmaker Rahayu Saraswati Djojohadikusumo. (Kompas.com/File)
G
erindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto has appointed his niece Rahayu “Sara” Saraswati as one of the party’s deputy chairs for the 2020-2025 term.
Sara, the daughter of Prabowo’s younger brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo, is currently running for deputy mayor of South Tangerang, Banten, with the regional secretary of the city, Muhammad from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), running for mayor.
"Saraswati is currently undergoing orientation for the next few days because she has been appointed to be one of the deputy chairs for the 2020-2025 term,” Gerindra Party executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad told the press on Monday.
Sara previously served as the chairwoman of the party’s women's advocacy division for the 2015-2020 term. She was a member of the 2014-2019 House of Representatives.
She ran for reelection in 2019 but failed to secure her legislative seat.
Sara expressed her gratitude on Tuesday for the appointment, saying she was honored and would not take her new role lightly, because she had been part of the party since the beginning and had been taught to be a "fighter for the people through politics."
“This also means that Pak Prabowo is true to his word when he said that he would make room for the youth in Gerindra as a form of leadership regeneration. My fellow party members and I are ready to serve,” she said.
Sara added that the appointment would not distract her from her election run. “My candidacy was also a mandate given by the party to me. This is what I have been mandated to focus on at the moment,” she said
In the election, the pair of Muhammad and Sara will face the duo of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin’s daughter Siti Nur Azizah and Ruhama Ben as well as Deputy Mayor Benyamin Davnie and Golkar Party politician Pilar Saga Ichsan.
