The plan came as the Democrats began their search for a new partnership after ending their pact with presumptive presidential candidate and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan on Friday.

PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto suggested that the party would begin exploring the idea of having Megawati meet with Yudhoyono, also known as SBY, once the party completed the formation of a campaign team for Ganjar next week.

“That’s when intense communication with other political parties and public figures will be carried out,” Hasto said on Monday as quoted from Tempo.

In an unexpected turn of events last week, Anies named National Awakening Party (PKB) chair Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate, prompting the withdrawal of the Democratic Party from the Anies camp. The Democrats had expected to secure the vice-presidential slot for their chairman, SBY’s son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.

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Anies’ unilateral decision followed a flurry of dealmaking last week, where NasDem (National Democratic) Party chairman Surya Paloh, the main backer of Anies, played a pivotal role in bringing both Anies and Muhaimin into an agreement to run together in next year’s election.

While presiding over an internal meeting on Friday to discuss the Democratic Party’s next move, SBY called on party members to not be hasty in deciding the party’s direction and suggested that the party explore partnership offers from other alliances, including the PDI-P-led camp and the Gerindra Party-led alliance behind candidate Prabowo Subianto.

In the speech, SBY praised both Megawati’s daughter and PDI-P executive Puan Maharani, as well as Gerindra chairman Prabowo for initiating “sincere” and “transparent” exploratory talks with the Democrats, in an apparent dig at Anies and Muhaimin.

“We welcome Mbak Puan and Pak Prabowo. We respect and appreciate [the offer] and even agreed to establish and maintain communication," SBY said. "If the goal is good for the nation's interests, the Democrats must respond well. Regarding where we will stand, this is what we will discuss carefully. I will get to that later.”

Democratic Party secretary-general Teuku Riefky subsequently met with his PDI-P counterpart on Friday in what could possibly be a prelude for a high-level meeting between SBY and Megawati.

Read also: Still hope for Megawati-SBY meeting, says Puan

The prospect of a SBY-Megawati meeting appeared to receive a warm welcome from members of the Democratic Party, such as Jansen Sitindaon, who said they were ready for a reconciliation with the PDI-P.

The Democrats and the PDI-P have a history of being diametrically opposed to each other, with the chilly relationship dating back to 2004, when SBY ran against Megawati in the country’s first direct presidential election. A member of Megawati’s cabinet during her presidency, SBY quit to run for president and defeated Megawati in the 2004 election.

Since this perceived betrayal, the two parties have rarely been able to see eye-to-eye. The PDI-P played an opposition role during the entirety of SBY’s 10-year presidency, and the Democratic Party has done the same during the current presidency of PDI-P member Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Relations between the PDI-P and the Democratic Party, however, have begun to warm up after the ruling party surprisingly extended an olive branch in June to the opposition party by naming Agus as one of Ganjar’s potential running mates, breaking the ice on their years-long bad blood.

In another sign of reconciliation in June, Puan and Agus met behind closed doors despite their respective parties supporting different presumptive presidential candidates – Ganjar and Anies, respectively.

Whether the Democratic Party will join the PDI-P-led alliance however remains to be determined as Megawati and SBY need to work first on their years-long unresolved conflict.

“The potential is greater for the Democrats to join Prabowo, though again we need to be more patient as we wait for the Democrats' move going forward,” analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said on CNN Indonesia TV.