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Photo: Ilustration, source: Medcom
KN, In less than six months, Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka will be sworn in as the country’s new president and vice president. Prabowo will carry on the torch from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who has led the country for the past decade. The General Election Commission (KPU) has appointed Prabowo and Gibran as the election winners after the Constitutional Court rejected the petition submitted by the rival teams Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.
Prabowo has secured approximately 96.2 million votes, about 58.59 percent of the total votes. Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, the public is hoping that the president-elect will truly implement what he has promised, including providing free school lunches and carrying on Jokowi’s policies.
Several experts appeared in a public discussion held in Jakarta as input for president-elect Prabowo Subianto in forming his cabinet. Head of the Center for Industry, Trade, and Investment of Indef, Andry Satrio Nugroho, believes that a large coalition will benefit the government in the next 5 years to streamline its programs. However, this is also an indication of the paralysis of checks and balances in parliament.
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) urged the government to be careful in realizing the plan to establish a State Revenue Agency. Deputy Chair of Kadin for Fiscal and Public Policy, Suryadi Sasmita, said that forming a separate state revenue authority from the Ministry of Finance was not easy. The management of state finances by two separate institutions could pose challenges in synchronizing the data.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s plan to form a so-called club of presidents has generally received a warm welcome from political parties across the spectrum, but a series of unresolved conflicts between his predecessors may become a stumbling block. Prabowo spokesperson Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak said the “presidents’ club” is expected to be a place for former presidents to sit together and exchange views over “strategic problems faced by the nation” and offer insights to the incoming president.
Political observer Ujang Komarudin says Prabowo’s plan to form a presidential club is an attempt to bridge the differences between previous presidents. The executive director of the Indonesia Political Review (IPR) said that from 2004 until now, it seemed that there were still differences and even disharmonious relations between the previous presidents. So he sees Prabowo’s efforts to unite his predecessors as a positive signal.
“It could be a bridge for Prabowo to unite the former presidents, to reconcile for peace, so that things will be good between them,” Ujang said when contacted in Jakarta Antara reported.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has repudiated a claim made by Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman Kaesang Pangarep, his youngest son, that the outgoing leader will assist in the party’s campaigning for the November regional elections.
Speaking to reporters during a working trip to West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Jokowi said political campaigns were the PSI’s internal business and that any questions about the party’s political strategy should be directed to Kaesang.
“That’s definitely the PSI’s own business,” Jokowi said. “Just ask the PSI chairman”. Jokowi was responding to a claim made by Kaesang at a party event late last week that his father had instructed PSI members to run in local and regional elections scheduled for Nov. 27, especially in regions where the party had had a decent showing in the February general election.
A disagreement has emerged in Prabowo Subianto’s coalition after a member objected to the potential inclusion of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a mid-size party in the legislature with a loyal supporter base, in the president-elect’s incoming government.
With four parties in the legislature — Prabowo’s own Gerindra Party, the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party — already in his soon-to-be ruling coalition, the incoming president last week welcomed two new additions into his fold, the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
The PKS has hinted at its desire to join Prabowo’s coalition, but this intention has not been received well by the Gelora Party — a party that splintered off the PKS and made its debut in the February legislative election but failed to win enough votes to send representatives to the House.
Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun said that Prabowo Subianto’s visit to China as Defense Minister and President-elect some time ago was to ensure that Indonesia’s bilateral relations with China, which have been well established for more than ten years, will continue.
“Mr. Prabowo, Defense Minister, visited China and was received by President Xi Jinping as a courtesy call, which led to a number of interesting discussions about the sustainability of Indonesia-China defense cooperation programs. Similarly, in the economic development sector, and others,” Djauhari said.
He went on to say that the two countries’ good relations stem from President Jokowi and President Xi Jinping’s close personal relationship reflected in cooperation across multiple sectors.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s spokesperson, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, spoke about Prabowo’s desire to have regular meetings with former Indonesian presidents. According to Dahnil, these meetings could later be called “presidential club”.
“Essentially, Mr. Prabowo wants former presidents to meet regularly and discuss national strategic issues,” said Dahnil. Through these meetings, said Dahnil, Prabowo wants to set an example and maintain relations. Dahnil said all former presidents of Indonesia are invited to join the club. Currently, Indonesia has two living former presidents. They are the 5th President Megawati Soekarnoputri and the 6th President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). Current president Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, is set to be replaced by Prabowo on October 20, 2024.
Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Friday that he had told President-Elect Prabowo Subianto to avoid bringing “toxic people” into his incoming administration.
Election winner Prabowo will officially rise to power this October, replacing the incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo who has led the country for a decade. Prabowo — who has picked Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice president — is set to reveal the incoming ministerial cabinet after he is in office. In a forum, Luhut revealed that he had spoken with Prabowo about his hopes for the next government.
“To the president-elect, I said ‘don’t bring toxic people to your administration’. Because it is going to hurt us very much. I’m a strong believer that the president-elect can do a lot of things for this country to be better in the future,” Luhut told the Jakarta Futures Forum, without mentioning Prabowo’s name.
The potential inclusion of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in the broad coalition supporting Prabowo Subianto remains a contentious issue, but the president-elect maintains that the Muslim-based party is welcome to join, according to a close aide. The PKS supported rival candidate Anies Baswedan in the February 14 presidential election, but it’s common in Indonesian political competition for former adversaries to become post-election allies. Two other parties in the Anies camp, the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), have indicated full support for the future Prabowo presidency.
Labor Party President Said Iqbal said that the party would fully support the program carried out by the elected President and Vice President Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka and the Constitutional Court (MK) decision on election dispute trial.
President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka met with President Jokowi at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. Presidential Special Staff Coordinator Ari Dwipayana said that Jokowi supported Prabowo-Gibran’s initiatives and steps to embrace all components of the nation in joint efforts to realize the vision of Indonesia as an advanced country by 2045. Dwipayana said that President Jokowi had included in the 2025 government work plan and state budget flagship programs for Prabowo/Gibran, which can be implemented after the pair has been inaugurated.
The National Democratic Party (Nasdem) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), which supported Anies Baswedan in the February election, are willing to pledge allegiance to the future government of Prabowo Subianto, bringing the number of coalition members to six, a potentially formidable House majority which would have nearly 75 percent of seats.
NasDem Chair Surya Paloh announced his party’s new stance after losing the 2024 presidential election, while visiting President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s residence, saying the “honest” reason his party was not in opposition was that it would be more beneficial to work with the government.
Ganjar Pranowo said at his home in Sleman, Yogyakarta, that he would not be a part of the next administration, even if he was offered a position as minister. Aside from that, based on the various statements made by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, Ganjar said that the party would most likely choose to stay outside the government.
After being certified the winner of Indonesia’s February 14 polls, president-elect Prabowo Subianto is expected to spend the next few months trying to persuade former rivals to join his political coalition, although a few parties have already indicated their willingness to ally with him.
Analysts believe Prabowo is likely to form a grand coalition with minimal opposition, an outcome that would accelerate his legislative agenda, but potentially erode the country’s democracy due to a lack of checks on his power.
Photo: Ilustration, source: Medcom