This, despite his statement that he would leave the process to the electoral alliance supporting Prabowo and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s son and the mayor of Surakarta, Central Java.

Jokowi’s apparent post-election interference turns out to be far-reaching. Not only will he get involved in selecting cabinet members for the new government, as revealed by Prabowo campaign team member Drajad Wibowo. Jokowi is also trying to bring elements of the opposition into the Onward Indonesia Coalition, which according to quick counts has fallen short of an outright majority in the House of Representatives.

Claiming to play a “bridge builder” role, Jokowi held a meeting with opposition leader Surya Paloh of the NasDem Party on Feb. 18. What really happened during the one-hour meeting only the two know, but the government has dismissed speculation about any back-room deal. Presidential staffer Wandy Tuturoong told The Jakarta Post on Monday the encounter was part of efforts to “deescalate the tension” from the Feb. 14 race.

Officially NasDem, as well as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), are part of the ruling coalition, which is bound by an agreement to support the Jokowi-Maruf Amin government until October. But Jokowi’s blatant display of favoritism toward Prabowo and Gibran has practically shattered the coalition he built into pieces.

NasDem and the PKB, plus the opposition Prosperous Justice Party, supported opposition figure Anies Baswedan and PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar, while the PDI-P and the PPP nominated Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD in the presidential election. The parties had from the beginning demanded that Jokowi stay neutral and allow for a level playing field, but Jokowi insisted on intervening for “the good of the nation”.

Questions about the circumstances and motive behind the meeting between Jokowi and Surya are natural because NasDem had previously shown support for the House investigation into alleged “large-scale” election fraud, a probe initiated by the PDI-P. A NasDem executive said after the Jokowi-Surya encounter that his boss “didn’t want the country and its people to be divided by elections”.

As far as the mapping of the presidential race is concerned, the House’s move to exercise its right to an investigation would receive majority support provided that all political parties that nominated the Anies-Muhaimin and Ganjar-Mahfud tickets are solid. Time will tell whether NasDem will eventually tip the balance in favor of the government following the Jokowi-Surya meeting.

The party has lost two of its three Cabinet seats since it declared its nomination of Anies for the presidency, ostensibly for corruption. While the fight against graft is a justified reason, the timing of the investigations into former communication and information minister Johnny Plate and former agricultural minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo suggested a political motive behind the law enforcement.

While any initiative to reduce tension after Feb. 14 and the blatant show of disrespect for political ethics preceding the democratic competition deserves commendation, President Jokowi’s active role will do more harm than good to our democracy. He is offering an olive branch to the opposition just to make sure the new government will enjoy enough House support to realize his signature projects, such as the controversial capital city relocation.

It would be better for the President to distance himself from the post-election political dynamics and let the political parties settle their issues among themselves. After all, father does not necessarily know best. Rather, the President should focus on all of his election promises that remain unfulfilled in the last seven or so months in office.