The Demorats have already joined forces with the NasDem Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in an electoral alliance dubbed the Coalition for Change and Unity (KPP), which endorses former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as its presumptive presidential candidate.

But the Democrats have been meeting with the pro-government parties, which are seeking to build bigger alliances and bring the largest opposition party into their respective electoral blocs.

On Thursday, executives of the Gerindra Party visited the Dems headquarters in Menteng, Central Jakarta, where they discussed current national affairs and the upcoming presidential race. Gerindra secretary-general Ahmad Muzani told reporters after the meeting that the party did not “seek to tempt the Democratic Party to change its political decision” to back Anies.

Gerindra, however, will keep its door open should the opposition party want to join the Gerindra-led alliance, Muzani added. He closed the high-profile meeting with a pantun (four-line rhyming poem): “Going to the market to buy avocados/we bought them at the floating market/Pak Prabowo will get stronger/if the Democratic Party joins us.”

Thursday’s meeting came months after meetings between leaders of the Democrats and the Gerindra-led alliance.

Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto visited Democratic Party patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in May at the latter’s hometown of Pacitan, East Java. Analysts saw the visit as a symbolic move by Prabowo to win over Yudhoyono and his loyal supporters at home.

Separately, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar met with Democrat chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono. The PKB is in the same electoral alliance with Gerindra, called the Great Indonesia Awaking Coalition (KKIR), which backs Prabowo’s presidential bid.

Burying the hatchet

The leading party in the government coalition, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has even extended an olive branch to the Democrats after an almost two-decades long falling out. Both parties have a history of being diametrically opposed to each other due to the chilly relationship between the parties’ respective leaders.

Yudhoyono resigned from his ministerial position in the Cabinet of PDI-P leader and then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the last months of her term in 2004. He later defeated Megawati in that year’s presidential election.

But it seems that their children have buried the hatchet with Megawati’s daughter and PDI-P executive Puan Maharani meeting with Agus in mid-June. Agus’ name is even on the list of potential running mates for Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranono, the PDI-P’s presumptive presidential candidate.

An internal squabble within Anies’ camp has left the Democrats as a viable option to widen both Gerindra’s and the PDI-P’s alliances, analysts say.

The Democratic Party had insisted on pairing Agus with Anies, but met with objections from the NasDem Party, which looked to pair the presumptive candidate with a figure linked to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s largest Islamic organization. The spat has left the alliance on shaky ground with executives from both parties accusing each other of being non-committal in backing Anies.

“Talks with Gerindra and the PDI-P can be used to put pressure on the alliance to announce Agus as Anies’ running mate or else the Democrats may leave the alliance, ruining his shot at 2024,” said political analyst Ujang Komarudin.

Bringing in votes

Bringing the Democratic Party into the fold would help boost both Prabowo’s and Ganjar’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential race.

Several pollsters are predicting a two-round presidential election next year, as no candidate appears poised to win a clear majority on polling day next February. The latest survey by Lembaga Survey Indonesia, taken early this month, showed Prabowo and Ganjar as the top-two candidates in a three-horse race simulation, with 35.8 and 32.2 percent of the vote, respectively.

Meanwhile, Anies is thought to be the most likely candidate to be cut from the first round of the race. He sits in third position with 21.4 percent in the latest survey, continuing his downward trend, from 28.6 percent last July to 25.3 percent in April.

The Democrats would help Prabowo win in East Java, one of the country’s most populous provinces where the party is deemed to have a strong base, said analyst Dedi Kurnia Syah of Indonesia Political Opinion.

On the other hand, the PDI-P could also gain an advantage by bringing the Democrats into its fold despite their longtime feud, said Trias Politika Strategis executive director Agung Baskoro.

“Ganjar’s electability has been stagnant since Prabowo took the lead in the surveys,” Agung said. “An alliance with the Democratic Party could help Ganjar reach an untapped voter bloc, such as those who are currently unhappy with the government.”