September 2, 2024
JAKARTA – President-elect Prabowo Subianto has played down rumors of rift between him and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and discord within his Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), striking a note of unity after a constitutional controversy elicited widespread protests in recent weeks.
The nation saw waves of demonstrations as lawmakers allied with Jokowi and Prabowo sought to roll back Constitutional Court rulings that made more parties eligible, whether individually or in smaller groups, to nominate candidates for the upcoming regional elections and that upheld a set of candidate age requirements that effectively barred Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep from running for regional office this year.
Lawmakers ultimately withdrew the legislation that would have overridden the court’s rulings.
The crisis was widely seen as a first test of Jokowi and Prabowo’s alliance, with analysts warning that the social unrest and public discontent over Jokowi’s apparent efforts to establish a political dynasty could put the beginning of Prabowo’s presidency at risk.
Speaking to thousands of members of his Gerindra Party on Saturday evening, Prabowo sought to quell speculation about a rift with Jokowi, praising the President as a sincere and dedicated leader for the last decade and reiterating his unwavering support for the outgoing leader.
“Many experts on podcasts have said [there has been discord in our relationship]. But I think people in villages prefer it if their leaders get along well,” Prabowo said at Gerindra’s national leadership congress at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta.
“Thank you for your dedication over the years. Rest assured of our support […]. Gerindra will always be behind you,” he told Jokowi from the podium. “We will continue all your programs and improve what has been lacking.”
Jokowi struck a similar tone at the event, in his first appearance at a Gerindra function. He said he trusted that Prabowo knew what it took to lead the nation toward its development goals.
“Pak Prabowo has said on several occasions that he feels very compatible with and fond of me, and I feel the same way about him,” Jokowi said, adding that the sense of compatibility came from “mutual trust, respect and understanding, even though sometimes there are differences”.
“I have faith that with Pak Prabowo’s leadership and continuity, the nation will be able to achieve its vision of Golden Indonesia in 2045,” he added.
Read also: Prabowo calls on politicians to put public above themselves
The latest political drama comes during a transition period in which Prabowo has been racing to consolidate power ahead of his presidency, having won the election by a massive margin, aided by Jokowi’s tacit backing, popularity and huge political sway after a decade in charge.
‘Competition is fine’
On the same occasion, Prabowo played down suggestions of cracks in his KIM alliance, which has broken down in some regional races despite its initial intention to forge a broad alliance, dubbed the KIM plus, to back its preferred candidates and set up uncontested elections in key regions.
Some members of the extended alliance nominated their own candidates in densely populated provinces, such as Banten, West Java, East Java, West Sumatra and South Sulawesi, following the Constitutional Court’s decision to lower the share of the popular vote from the February election that a party or group of parties needed to nominate regional candidates.
Jakarta is now the only battleground province where all KIM members have managed to rally around a single gubernatorial candidate pair: Ridwan Kamil and Suswono.
“While we are part of the same alliance at the national level, there is no problem that we are in different alliances and compete with each other in regions. Competition is good. People must have choices,” Prabowo said.
He then quipped that the gubernatorial race in his traditional base province of West Java “makes me worry, though”.
Read also: KIM alliance splinters as candidate registration closes
While the state of the November races seems to have diverged from the KIM’s initial plan, analyst Ujang Komarudin predicted Prabowo would retain his political footing.
“Political parties are leveraging the lower threshold and the small window of time when Jokowi is in his lame-duck period and Prabowo has yet to begin his presidency to fight for their own interests in the coming regional head elections,” Ujang said.
“But once Prabowo takes office and becomes the de-facto leader of his ruling coalition, all KIM members will likely fall in line behind his command, allowing him to orchestrate support to ensure his government,” he said.
The KIM alliance has repeatedly said that the extension of its partnership from the February presidential election to the November regional elections will ensure the support of regional administrations for Prabowo’s presidency, a strategy that experts fear could roll back the nation’s progress in decentralizing power.
Ujang said having KIM members fielding different candidates essentially increased the chances that a representative of the alliance would win the election in the region in question and that Prabowo would be able to consolidate support there.
“It would be different if the winners were candidates backed solely by the KIM’s rivals, particularly the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P], should the party decide to become the opposition to Prabowo’s government,” Ujang said.
Warm regards
When Prabowo greeted his allies and supporters at Saturday’s event, the president-elect did not fail to mention the PDI-P, Jokowi’s main sponsor turned rival and the only major party that has yet to decide whether to join Prabowo’s ruling coalition or oppose it.
Read also: House Speaker Puan laments declining Indonesian democracy
“It is my great honor to hold an event where we invite all parties, not only our coalition parties but also non-coalition parties,” Prabowo said as he welcomed Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas, who acted as the representative of the PDI-P.
Prabowo said both PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and her daughter Puan Maharani had sent him warm regards despite not being able to attend.
“I think this is a step forward to show political parties at home and abroad that the political atmosphere in Indonesia has a unique characteristic, that after a competition, we can get along again as one big family,” he said.