Signal for the Formation of a Large Alliance Strengthens

The general chairmen of the five political parties agreed on the urgency of the large alliance. President Joko Widodo considered it suitable if the two political party alliances joined.

DOKUMENTASI HUMAS PAN

(From left) General Chair of the PKB Muhaimin Iskandar, General Chair of the Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto, President Joko Widodo, General Chair of the Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto, General Chair of PAN Zulkifli Hasan, and Acting General Chair of PPP Mardiono attending the Ramadhan Gathering at the PAN DPP Office, Jakarta, Sunday (2/4/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's meeting with five political party chairmen who have been in two political party alliances for the 2024 presidential election gave rise to a signal of the formation for a major alliance for the coming election. The general chairmen of the five political parties also agreed on the urgency of the large alliance. The President even considered it suitable if the two political party alliances joined.

The President met with five political party chairmen in the Ramadan gathering at the office of the Central Executive Board (DPP) of the National Mandate Party (PAN), in Jakarta, on Sunday (2/4/2023). They had a closed discussion for almost an hour.

In addition to PAN Chairperson Zulkifli Hasan as host, attending the meeting were general chairperson of the Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto, General chairperson of the Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto, General chairperson of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Muhaimin Iskandar, and acting general chairperson of United Development Party (PPP) Mardiono.

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The five political parties are now in two alliances for the 2024 presidential election, namely the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) consisting of Golkar, PAN and the PPP, as well as the Gerindra-PKB alliance, often called the Greater Indonesia Awakening Coalition. The five political parties are also part of the alliance of political parties supporting the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin government. Meanwhile, representatives of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the NasDem Party, which are also part of the alliance, were not visible.

After the closed meeting, Zulkifli Hasan explained the meeting was the opportunity to increase solidarity among the parties supporting the government to resolve national issues. For this reason, he invited all general chairpersons of political parties, which are members of the government coalition. However, PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and NasDem chairperson Surya Paloh were unable to attend because they were abroad.

In addition to strengthening solidarity, the sustainability of President Joko Widodo’s post-leadership position was also discussed. This discussion will continue, especially regarding the formation of a large alliance. "Of course, there will be a continuation of the discussion about the large alliance, about the presidential candidates," said Zulkifli.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Zulkifli Hasan, Chairman of PAN.

National Coalition

At the opening of the event, Zulkifli mentioned the name of the national alliance when explaining the reason for the meeting. "If inner consolidation, spiritual and national commitment are ready to enter this political year, it will produce a strong and solid national alliance to continue and keep up what has been done," he said.

Prabowo Subianto said through the meeting he felt the same frequency as the general chairpersons of other political parties. As fellow supporters of the government, they can understand the difficulty of the development and challenges that will be faced in the future. He also did not deny that the possibility was open to combining the KIB with the Gerindra-PKB alliance.

For the KIB, according to Airlangga Hartarto, the sustainability of the development and formation of a large alliance is important considering that Indonesia is a large country with a variety of heavy challenges which are being faced. "We are all in government. This carriage is ready to continue the program faster," he said.

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Airlangga is the figure who first put forward the discourse about the large alliance. This was conveyed after a joint breaking of the fast at the NasDem DPP Office in Jakarta in March.

President Jokowi confirmed that his meeting with the five leaders of political parties discussed the commitment of nationalism and the sustainability of development in the future. However, regarding the formation of a large alliance, he claimed not to have participated in talking about it. "Those who spoke were party leaders, I just listened," he said.

When asked about the compatibility of the merging of the KIB with the Gerindra-PKB alliance, Jokowi answered, "I just said it is suitable. It’s up to the party leaders or a combination of party leaders."

Those who spoke were party leaders, I just listened.

Head of the Department of Politics and Social Changes at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Arya Fernandes saw the potential of a large alliance occurring because there was no certainty on the presidential candidate that would be carried by the KIB or the Gerindra-PKB alliance. This condition encourages political parties to negotiate. However, he predicted efforts to form a large coalition were vulnerable to facing the deadlock when there is a new maneuver from the PDI-P.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of NasDem Ahmad Ali revealed that his party had never received an invitation from PAN regarding the event. NasDem did not question it, because the event was not considered an official meeting of the government coalition and was more directed at the discussion of the 2024 presidential election.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.