Aburizal edges closer to Prabowo

JAKARTA. The Golkar Party and the Gerindra Party appear to have moved closer to forming a coalition, with the two leaders of the parties holding a private meeting on the outskirts of Jakarta on Monday.

After playing host last week, Golkar chairman and presumptive presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie took his turn to visit Gerindra chief patron Prabowo Subianto on Monday at the latter’s private residence in Bogor, West Java.

Prabowo, Gerindra’s presidential candidate, embraced Aburizal upon the latter’s arrival before the two held a meeting behind closed doors.

However, the two presidential hopefuls did not reach any agreement in the meeting, Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon said.

“But [we made] further developments from the first meeting last week,” Fadli said after the meeting, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Fadli said a possible deal could only materialize after the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the final results of the April 9 legislative election.

The Monday meeting was a follow-up to Prabowo’s visit to Aburizal’s residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on April 29.

Results from various quick counts show that in the April 9 legislative election, Gerindra garnered 11 percent of the vote while Golkar received 14.3 percent.

Both Prabowo and Aburizal are yet to secure their presidential tickets as the Presidential Election Law requires a party or coalition of parties to secure at least 25 percent of the popular vote to be able to nominate a presidential candidate.

If Gerindra and Golkar decide to join forces, Aburizal will likely be named a presidential candidate given Golkar’s stronger performance in the legislative election.

However, given Aburizal’s precarious position in his own party, with some Golkar politicians considering endorsing former chairman Jusuf Kalla as the running mate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) presidential candidate, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the Golkar leader would likely be a tough sell.

With his low electability rating, many doubt if Aburizal can compete against the PDI-P’s Jokowi.

The ticket could also face problems in the July 9 poll, given that Prabowo came in second after Jokowi in numerous public opinion polls.

Gerindra co-founder Hashim Djojohadikusumo, however, hinted that Gerindra would not allow Prabowo to run on the lower half of the ticket.

Hashim, as reported by kompas.com, said Gerindra was considering Aburizal as one of the party’s possible vice presidential candidates for Prabowo.

The other possible candidates are National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa and figures from Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

“There are three or four names,” Hasyim said after the meeting.

By considering figures from NU as his running mate, Prabowo appeared to have followed a move by Jokowi, who over the weekend traveled to East and Central Java to meet with prominent NU clerics to discuss his vice presidential pick.

On Saturday, Jokowi appointed former minister and chairperson of NU’s women’s organization, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, as spokesperson.

Charta Politika political analyst Yunarto Wijaya predicted that if the Golkar-Gerindra coalition materialized, Prabowo could likely be its presidential nominee.

“In the presidential election the primary factor is not the electability of a party, but its figure. Prabowo’s advantage is his popularity, while in Aburizal’s case it is his party, Golkar,” he said.

Yunarto said Aburizal could run into trouble if he was willing to run as a vice presidential candidate for Prabowo.

“He would face opposition during the upcoming Golkar national leadership meeting [Rapimnas], which will decide the fate of Aburizal and Golkar’s political stance,” he said. (Yuliasri Perdani)