TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – A few words from Gerindra Party general chairman Prabowo Subianto regarding his hopes to meet PDI Perjuangan general chair Megawati Soekarnoputri seem to raise a new discussion theme in the country’s political map. Prabowo expressed his hope when responding to the wish of the General Chair of the National Awakening Party, Muhaimin Iskandar, to meet Megawati, but this has not been accomplished.
Prabowo said the planned meeting between Muhaimin and Megawati was a good thing. He said he was also in a position to wait for the time when Megawati could be accepted. “Cak Imin met Mrs. Mega, fine. I also don’t know when Ibu Mega received it. There are no problems, the important thing is good relations,” said Prabowo at Muhaimin Iskandar’s official residence, Widya Chandra, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, Sunday, July 9, 2023.
At a time when the competition between Prabowo and Ganjar Pranowo is getting tougher to get RI 1 seat, the meeting between the former Kopassus General Commander and Megawati is interesting to wait for. Chairperson of the PDIP DPP for Politics Puan Maharani said there were plans for a meeting between Megawati Soekarnoputri and the general chairmen of other political parties, but there was no definite timeframe.
“Yes. There are plans to meet with all the other general chairmen (political parties). However, of course this is the time we are scheduling,” said Puan Maharani when alluding to Megawati’s planned meeting with Prabowo, Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
The relationship between Megawati and Prabowo has experienced ups and downs along with their respective positions. On an occasion at the Central Jakarta Presidential Palace Complex, Tuesday, December 3 2019, Megawati flashed back to the beginning of her friendship with Prabowo, namely when he helped her return to Indonesia after some time. stateless in the country of people in the early 2000s.
Mega admitted that he scolded the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Commander of the TNI for leaving Prabowo adrift abroad. The good relationship continued when Megawati teamed up with Prabowo to run for the 2009 presidential election. However, both of them lost badly to the pair Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono who collected 60 percent of the vote.
The 2009 presidential election was also the beginning of the breakdown of the relationship between Megawati and Prabowo five years later. At that time Mega and Prabowo signed an agreement at the Batu Tulis Palace, Bogor, West Java, which later became known as the Batu Tulis Agreement.
In the agreement, Prabowo asked to be given the freedom to regulate the Indonesian economy and to appoint ten related ministers if they won the presidential election. Meanwhile, Megawati promised to support Prabowo’s candidacy in the 2014 presidential election.
In fact, PDIP actually carried Joko Widodo in the 2014 elections as a partner with Jusuf Kalla. Prabowo, who was in a duet with Hatta Rajasa, had to swallow a bitter pill again. Losing the 2014 presidential election made Prabowo and the Gerindra Party “step aside” to the ranks of the opposition.
Megawati and Prabowo’s relationship seemed close again when the two met at the 2018 Asian Games martial arts arena in August 2019. Prabowo, who is also the general chairman of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association, welcomed Megawati, by first changing into traditional clothes. “Then he took my promise to make fried rice. Pak Prabowo likes my fried rice,” said Megawati at the Megawati Telling Story event at the PDIP DPP office, Jakarta, Monday, January 7 2019.
Lost again in the 2019 election by Jokowi, but Prabowo was finally accommodated into the cabinet. Since then the relationship between Prabowo and Megawati has melted. Approaching the 2024 election, Mega seems to be keeping her distance from Prabowo, a serious competitor to Ganjar Pranowo and PDIP in the 2024 election.
But PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto dismissed the notion that the possibility of meeting with the general chairmen of other political parties was closed. He said that indeed Megawati had assigned him and Puan Maharani, Said Abdullah and Olly Dondokambey to continue to build political communication with other parties.
“So when we later meet with Ms. Megawati Soekarnoputri, everything will boil down to support for Mr. Ganjar Pranowo,” said Hasto in Jakarta, Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
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2023-07-11 13:30:00
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