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 (Sept 25). It was the first meeting between Megawati and Prabowo since the 2019 presidential election. - Photo: The Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA: The 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.
For Megawati, the biggest obstacle to accepting Prabowo’s offer is the presence of outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who she has not forgiven for his “betrayal” in backing Prabowo’s presidential bid.
Jokowi won the 2014 and 2019 elections as the PDI-P ticket, but in this year’s election, he threw his support behind Gerindra Party chair Prabowo, who picked his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as running mate.
As such, Jokowi will remain influential in his successor’s administration through Gibran but also through the Golkar Party, after he gained implicit control of the largest party in Prabowo’s coalition government this month with the election of Bahlil Lahadalia, a Jokowi loyalist, as its new chairman.
Megawati has enjoyed a share of power in Jokowi’s 10-year rule for backing his presidential ambitions.
Several senior PDI-P politicians have held key positions in his cabinet as well as other government agencies.
But a rift began to form last year between Jokowi and Megawati in the run-up to the 2024 elections.
The PDI-P would be treated as a junior partner if it joins the Prabowo administration, and will certainly not be as influential as it has been during Jokowi’s tenure.
Parties both major and minor have joined the next government, primarily to gain access to power, both political and financial.
There is little to gain by being the opposition, especially in a House that is dominated by parties in the coalition government.
In making her decision, Megawati could draw on the party’s experience as the opposition in the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2004 to 2014.
The party gradually lost the support of its base during that period, but then won the jackpot in 2014 with Jokowi and turned its political fortunes around, going on to win the legislative elections in 2014, 2019 and 2024.
What we’ve heard
An internal source within PDI-P said that one key figure facilitating communication between Prabowo and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri is her daughter, Puan Maharani, who is also the House of Representatives speaker.
However, this meeting is hindered by the infighting within the party, in which the elite are still blaming each other for the defeat in the Feb 14 presidential race.
Aside from strategic considerations, another obstacle to the meeting between Megawati and Prabowo is the location.
Prabowo prefers the encounter to take place in Bogor, West Java, while Megawati prefers her private residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
According to the source, Prabowo wants to ensure Megawati during the meeting that he has no intention to revise the Legislative Institution (MD3) Law, which will assure the PDI-P of the House speaker post.
Another point of negotiation with Megawati is the potential revocation of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) decree linking Sukarno to the September 30 Movement, a failed coup attempt blamed on the communists in 1965.
However, within Gerindra, there are still some who oppose PDI-P becoming part of the government.
The source said that the party’s deputy chair, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, for instance, insists on prioritising a good relationship between Prabowo and President Joko Widodo.
"It’s actually Jokowi who impedes communication between Prabowo and Megawati," the source said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
