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Analysis: Megawati: To join or not to join Prabowo government?
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Respectfully yours: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (left) smiles as Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto offers a gesture of respect after a closed meeting at the residence of the fifth Indonesian president, Megawati, on Jl. Teuku Umar, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between Megawati and Prabowo since the 2019 presidential election. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) must soon decide whether it is joining the incoming government of Prabowo Subianto, whose inauguration as the country’s eighth president next month is approaching fast.
One internal faction believes that the PDI-P, which won the greatest number of seats at the House of Representatives in February’s general legislative election, will be better off in an opposition role. Another believes that the party should join Prabowo’s coalition government and fight its political battles from within, as it has little to gain by standing outside.
But the question is not about which side has the better argument: This is something that PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri must decide, as she has in all of the party’s major decisions. She alone holds the prerogative, but she has yet to speak on this matter.
Prabowo has left the door open to the PDI-P, but time is rapidly running out: He must form his cabinet in time for his inauguration on Oct. 20 and to do that, he needs to know if the PDI-P is joining his government and how many positions in his incoming cabinet it expects in return.
The PDI-P is the last of eight parties with House seats that has not joined Prabowo’s government. If it decides to do so, the incoming administration will have full control of the House, promising smooth passage of the legislation in his agenda. But if the PDI-P decides to remain as the opposition, the Prabowo administration will still control a House majority of over 80 percent, so it makes little difference to him whether the PDI-P is in or out.
Still, it’s up to Megawati to make that decision, weighing the political gains and losses of joining, or not.
Megawati met with Prabowo in May to mend their ties after PDI-P candidate Gandjar Pranowo lost in February’s presidential election. She did not give a firm answer to his offer at that time, but the PDI-P says another meeting is in the works before Prabowo’s inauguration.
