President Joko Widodo received a number of criticisms from various political circles regarding his meeting with a number of political party leaders at the state palace. It was rumored that the meeting was held to discuss the 2024 general election.
Politicians invited
The president invited six political parties and its chairperson to the meeting including, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Zulkifli Hasan, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar, representatives from the United Development Party (PPP) Muhamad Mardiono, and Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) chairman Prabowo Subianto.
Response from politicians
Several politicians who responded to Joko Widodo’s action were Jusuf Kalla, Anies Baswedan, and Surya Paloh.
Jusuf Kalla, who previously served as Vice President for the 2014-2019 period, specifically commented on the absence of the Democratic National Party (NasDem) and its chairman Surya Paloh in the meeting.
“It’s not the first time [Nasdem] was left out. If the meeting discussed development programs as in normal discussions taking place in the palace, Nasdem should have been included. Otherwise, the meeting was all about politics,” Kalla said.
Kalla explained that the exclusion of Surya Paloh, which is one of the closest person to the President, indicated that the meeting was held to discuss political strategies for the upcoming 2024 elections.
“In my opinion, the president should learn from Mrs. Megawati [Soekarnoputri] and SBY [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] who refrained from getting deeply involved [in politics] when their term nearly ended,” Kalla added.
Meanwhile, Anies Baswedan declined to comment on the events at the palace, including the meeting with political party leaders. Baswedan said that he was focused on the vision and mission of the 2024 general elections, as well as programs to reduce poverty and to increase employment opportunities.
“I am not interested in joining the conversation,” Baswedan said.
Meanwhile, the NasDem chairman, Surya Paloh, who has been rumored to have a close relationship with the President, is currently at his lowest point in terms of his relationship with President Joko Widodo. “If you say the lowest point, it is good. What I’m afraid of is that [the relationships] is a minus,” said Paloh.
“I’m worried if it’s a minus. It’s difficult to fix,” Paloh added.
