‘Warm' first meeting of Indonesia President Prabowo, Vice-President Gibran and political rival Megawati fuels rift-healing talk

CNA

2 days ago

JAKARTA: Politicians from key factions have welcomed a rare joint public appearance of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka and rival leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, with analysts describing it as a 'symbolic' gesture of reconciliation.
The national event in Jakarta on Monday (Jun 2) marked the first time the trio was seen together after Prabowo was inaugurated last October, although he and Megawati had a closed-door meeting in April.
It was also the first time Megawati – chairwoman of the country's largest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – was sighted in public with Gibran after he and his father, former President Joko Widodo, were officially expelled from the PDI-P last December.
They were at a ceremony to commemorate the birth of Indonesia's founding ideology, Pancasila, at the Pancasila Building in Central Jakarta.
Prabowo served as the inspector of the ceremony while Megawati is the head of the steering committee at the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency. She was among the dignitaries seated in the front row along with former vice-presidents Try Sutrisno and Jusuf Kalla.
Photos circulating of the event show Prabowo accompanying Megawati as they entered the building, with Gibran following behind.
Megawati's PDI-P is the single largest party in parliament with nearly one-fifth of seats, but is still dwarfed by the Advance Indonesia Coalition, a super-coalition of parties aligned with Prabowo's Gerindra party. PDI-P is the only major party that has not joined the Advance Indonesia Coalition, also known as KIM Plus.
Tensions have run high ever since Widodo did not back PDI-P's presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the February 2024 presidential election. Instead, Widodo was widely said by observers to have tacitly supported Prabowo, whose running mate was his oldest child Gibran.
PDI-P secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto was named a suspect last December in the bribery of former General Elections Commission commissioner Wahyu Setiawan from 2017 to 2022. Following Hasto's arrest in February this year, Megawati ordered leaders of her party to withdraw from a brainstorming retreat convened by Prabowo.
In a sign of thawing relations, however, Prabowo visited Megawati, a former president, at her residence on Jalan Teuku Umar on Apr 7.
They were running mates in the 2009 presidential elections, with Prabowo the vice-presidential candidate in Megawati's failed bid to defeat incumbent Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
'HEALING THE DEEP RIFT'
Political analyst Hendri Satrio told Jakarta Globe that the visual cues on Monday of placing Megawati at the forefront were 'not just protocol' and carried a symbolic meaning.
Another analyst told CNA the latest meeting on Monday reflects some effort by the administration to 'reconcile' with Megawati, 'a figure who represents the weight of the opposition force'.
'It is a first step to healing the deep rift that started when Jokowi backed his son Gibran for vice-president and Prabowo later for president instead of PDI-P's candidate Ganjar,' said Julia Lau, a senior fellow and coordinator of the Indonesia Studies Programme at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Widodo, Gibran and Widodo's son-in-law Bobby Nasution were officially expelled from PDI-P in December last year for 'openly going against the party's decision to back its presidential pair' and instead 'supporting the rival pair from the KIM'.
The PDI-P had supported Widodo's rise in power from mayor of Surakarta to governor of Jakarta, then Indonesia's president for two terms from 2014 to 2024.
PRABOWO SAYS MEGAWATI LOOKS 'THINNER'
As Prabowo and Gibran greeted national figures at a waiting room prior to the ceremony, a light-hearted exchange was caught on camera between the president and Megawati.
'You look thinner now. That's amazing, your weight loss programme appears to be working,' Prabowo told Megawati, as quoted by Jakarta Post.
Secretary-general of Prabowo's Gerindra party, Ahmad Muzani, who witnessed the interaction, described the atmosphere as 'warm, familial and full of laughter', Jakarta Globe reported.
'This is a beautiful image for Indonesia,' said Muzani, who is also the House Speaker and chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
'On a day when we honour the foundation of our nation, our leaders showed unity, exchanged greetings and sat together in a spirit of togetherness.'
Pancasila Day is a national holiday usually celebrated on Jun 1 in Indonesia, but Muzani said the official ceremony was held on Jun 2 to accommodate Megawati.
'We adjusted the schedule for her,' Muzani said, as quoted by national news agency Antara.
Deputy Speaker of the MPR, Hidayat Nur Wahid, told Antara the meeting 'will be seen as a positive signal for unity and a commitment to upholding the values of Pancasila'.
Indonesia's national ideology comprises five principles: Belief in one God, civilised humanity, national unity, democracy and social justice.
The PDI-P described the meeting as a display of statesmanship and a reflection of the longstanding friendship between the two leaders that goes 'beyond political considerations'.
'Their relationship has been well-established for a long time, both in political contexts and especially on strategic matters related to the state ideology of Pancasila,' PDI-P chairman Said Abdullah told news outlet Kompas in a written response.
Their rapport, he added, was also reflected in Prabowo's speech at the ceremony, where he made mention of Megawati before other national figures.
'It was clear that President Prabowo accorded great respect to Megawati, not only as Indonesia's fifth president but also as a Chair of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency Steering Committee,' Said said.
Another interaction at the ceremony that drew attention was that between Gibran and former vice-president Try Sutrisno.
Try Sutrisno was among the prominent figures who endorsed a statement in April urging a reshuffle of Prabowo's Cabinet and calling for Gibran's impeachment, citing the impropriety of a constitutional court decision that had paved the way for him to contest in the presidential election.