JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo's steps looked solid when he approached the Chairman of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh. A moment later, Jokowi opened his hands and hugged Paloh.
Smiles and laughter broke amid the embrace that lasted that few seconds. The cheers of the invited guests and NasDem cadres also shouted when the two figures embraced.
The moment of the hug occurred during the closing ceremony of the 8th Anniversary of NasDem at JIExpo, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta on Monday, November 11. This hug happened after Jokowi had mentioned that he had never been hugged so tightly by Paloh.
A hug, a hug, a handshake between the leaders is a form of friendship, always affirming the commitment of nationality, statehood, brotherhood, unity, harmony. Why not? pic.twitter.com/Q6yQl0ZJR2
- Joko Widodo (@jokowi) November 12, 2019
Some time ago, Jokowi admitted that he had never been hugged by Surya Paloh as Paloh had embraced the President of the Prosperous Justice Party, Sohibul Iman. This was conveyed by Jokowi during the Golkar Party's anniversary some time ago.
Even though he was jealous at that time, the former governor of DKI Jakarta said there was nothing wrong with embracing it. However, everything was returned to its intentions.
"Embracing what is wrong? That's good but once again, everything returns to its intention. If the intention is for state commitment, what is wrong? If the intention is for national commitment, what is wrong. Very good, what is exemplified by Bang Surya," said Jokowi in his remarks in front of NasDem Party administrators and cadres and invited guests for the NasDem 8th Anniversary event.
In addition, in front of thousands of NasDem cadres, President Jokowi also emphasized that there was no tension between the PDI-P Party Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Surya Paloh.
He dismissed the assumption that Megawati deliberately refused to shake hands with Paloh at the moment of the presidential inauguration. At that time, Megawati was indeed caught on camera passing Surya Paloh and instead shook hands with someone else.
"It is a big mistake to convey that our coalition is not harmonious, very wrong. We are just harmonious. Yes, when Mrs. Mega does not greet Pak Surya, it is too much. Wong, I sometimes come here too often," said Jokowi in his remarks at the event. 8th Anniversary of the NasDem Party.
Not only Jokowi, the host, Surya Paloh, also tried to show that there were no cracks in the coalition, including with the PDI-P. Paloh demonstrated this by praising Megawati several times, who was accompanied by her daughter, the Chairman of the DPR, Puan Maharani. This compliment was conveyed when he gave a speech in front of his cadres.
"In the midst of us, the 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia is present. Who is he? (Ms. Megawati, said the NasDem cadre) I want to hear again. Who is she? Megawati and she are NasDem's true friends," said Paloh, smiling broadly and applauded. cadres.
Meanwhile, Megawati, who was sitting on the chair provided, smiled and looked to her left. Puan, who is also sitting on Megawati's right, also smiled at Paloh's statement.
Before ending his remarks, Paloh also praised Megawati for the second time. Initially, Paloh mentioned that he and his party loved national leaders.
"We love Jokowi, we love Mr. Ma'ruf Amin. We love Mr. Jusuf Kalla who accompanied us and never doubt how much I still love my Mbak Mega. Don't doubt it," he said.
This media entrepreneur also said that the moment Megawati passed herself to shake hands, in fact caused a lot of gossip about the coalition rift to burst. Thus, it is important for him to convey that he loves Megawati as much as he loves other national figures.
In fact, Paloh joked that he even hired an investigator to find out why Mega did not greet him at the MPR RI building some time ago.
"I tried to send intelligence to investigate, was it true that Ma'am (Megawati) deliberately didn't greet me. As a result, I knew it was accidental," he said and was greeted by laughter and applause from the cadres and invited guests present.
A pliable political sign
Although previously with a fiery spirit, Surya Paloh had mentioned that there was a Pancasilais party that did not want to reach out to friends and about their anger because they were suspected of embracing PKS President Sohibul Iman, in fact, Paloh now looks warm with his coalition.
A political observer from Mercubuana University, Maksimus Ramses Lalongkoe thinks this is a form of politics that is flexible and not rigid. Because, he considered, in politics there are only interests.
"That means politics is flexible, not rigid because in politics there are no eternal enemies and friends. There are only interests and conditions that show the political maturity of our politicians," Maksimus said when contacted by VOI via text message, Monday, November 11, 2019 night.
Despite showing that politics is flexible, Maksimus said it was not certain that the coalition would work well. Because, if there is another difference in the middle of the road, the dynamics will occur again.
Moreover, in the previous congress, NasDem was prepared to think about a presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election. This is also considered to be able to increase the tension of each party's political maneuvers in the future.
Meanwhile, a political observer from Al Azhar University Indonesia, Ujang Komarudin, has another analysis regarding Jokowi's embrace and clarification regarding his coalition which has no problem whatsoever. According to him, the former mayor of Solo is trying to show that his coalition is in good condition even though the reality is not.
"There are efforts to improve coalition relations. But these are only political gimmicks," said Ujang.
He considered that it was natural for these politicians to show good harmony in front of the stage. However, the public certainly doesn't know what is behind it. "Politics always shows two faces. There are faces that seem to smile but actually hate," he said.
Ujang suspects that in the future the conflict in Jokowi's fat coalition can reoccur like a time bomb. The reason is that the existing conflicts cannot be resolved with mere gimmicks.
"The conflict will be resolved if all of its interests are accommodated. If there are still those who are disappointed and hurt, yes, there will be many more political dramas in the future," he concluded.
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