Democratic Party Secretary-General Teuku Riefky Harsya (right) talks with Gerindra Party Secretary-General Ahmad Muzani when officials of the two parties meet in the Democratic Party headquarters in Jakarta on on, July 20, 2023. - Antara
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Negotiations among political-party elites continue to intensify as the Nov 25 deadline for the presidential election registration draws closer, leaving the possibility open of a reconfiguration of the current electoral alliances.
In a move that further highlights the unraveling of the coalition of pro-government parties, Gerindra Party officials on Thursday (July 20) visited the headquarters of the Democratic Party, the leading opposition party, in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
The high-profile visit came as the momentum of the candidacy of Gerindra Party leader Prabowo Subianto gathered pace, with the latest polls placing the former military general as the man to beat in the next election and a recent Cabinet shake-up largely seen as a power move by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to distance himself from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest ruling party, by appointing a pro-Prabowo figure as the new communications and information minister.
The PDI-P has picked Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who trails Prabowo in the polls, as its presidential candidate, a unilateral decision that has inevitably polarised members of the ruling coalition into two rival camps rooting for either Ganjar or Prabowo, both of whom claim to have been endorsed by President Jokowi.
Gerindra has formed a coalition with the National Awakening Party (PKB), while the PDI-P has joined forces with the United Development Party (PPP). Both parties are currently seeking to build a bigger coalition to back their respective nominees by approaching other parties within and outside the pro-government coalition.
Gerindra secretary-general Ahmad Muzani led the party’s delegation that included deputy chairman Sugiono, advisory board member Andre Rosiade and head of the central executive board Prasetyo Hadi in the meeting with the Democrats.
It was the first official meeting between the two parties since Prabowo visited Democratic Party chief patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Pacitan, Central Java, in May.
The Gerindra delegation arrived at the Democratic Party office in Menteng at around 2pm and was welcomed by the party’s secretary-general, Teuku Riefky Harsya, and head of the honorary council, Hinca Pandjaitan.
Muzani said both parties discussed a lot of issues during a closed-door meeting, including current national affairs and the presidential elections.
"Both parties know that we have formed different political coalitions and endorsed different presidential candidates, we did not seek to tempt the Democratic Party to change its political decision through the meeting," he said.
The Democratic Party has formed a coalition with the NasDem Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) to endorse former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as their presidential candidate. The alliance, dubbed the Coalition for Change and Unity (KPP), is running on a platform of “change” to tap into the large number of voters critical of the Jokowi administration.
Anies, who trails Prabowo and Ganjar in the polls, is viewed as the opposition figurehead, and one who portrays himself as the opposite of Jokowi.
Despite his earlier statement, Muzani closed his remarks with a pantun (four-line rhyming poem) that insinuated his party’s intention to get the Democrats into the Gerindra-led coalition.
“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,” he said.
Thursday’s meeting with Gerindra officials was the latest political engagement by the Democratic Party with a member of the ruling coalition.
Previously, the party’s chairman, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, met with PDI-P executive Puan Maharani, marking a thaw in long-standing tensions between the rival parties.
The party has insisted on pairing Agus with Anies despite objections from the NasDem Party, which has sought to pair Anies with a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) figure.
The squabble has left their alliance on shaky ground, with officials from both parties accusing each other of being non-committal with regard to Anies’ nomination.
Speculation is rife that the Democrats may join the PDI-P, should Agus fail to get the vice-presidential nomination in the KPP. Without the Democrats, the pro-Anies coalition will not have enough votes to field Anies in the presidential election.
Agus, however, has played down such speculation, saying that the party was committed to supporting Anies as its presidential candidate. In a NasDem Party rally at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta last week, Agus said that the rally was proof that the electoral alliance remained united.
“[KPP members] will continue to build mutual trust and support for one another because we know that to bring about the changes that we have long desired, there will be a lot of tests and challenges,” Agus said before the event, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Analysts, however, said that it was not impossible for the Democrats to join either the PDI-P-led or Gerindra-led coalitions, should they consider that their interests were not accommodated within the KPP.
