Airlangga Hartarto - Surya Paloh Meeting Discusses Jokowi's Government And The Challenges Of COVID-19 Pandemic

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of the Golkar Party DPP Airlangga Hartarto visited the Nasdem Tower (DPP NasDem) Thursday, March 10. Airlangga held a closed meeting with the General Chair of NasDem Surya Paloh for about 3 hours in the context of friendship between the two parties.

Airlangga admitted that he was amazed by the luxury and modern feel of the NasDem Tower. He also praised the food and other treats that Paloh hosted.

"I've been to other party offices abroad. I see nothing can be less cool than this NasDem Party office. And of course this meeting is very proud and the friendship is very deep because Mr. Surya Paloh is one of the teachers in the Golkar Party," said he.

Furthermore, Airlangga admitted that there were things he could not convey from the closed meeting. However, he explained that in essence Golkar and NasDem are in line, and will prioritize togetherness even if they disagree on a number of things.

"He (Surya Paloh) has been in Golkar longer than at NasDem. He was once his junior. So if we have been, Mr. Surya Paloh in this political policy, Golkar and Nasdem Alhamdulillah are all in line," he explained.

"If something is not in line, of course we prioritize togetherness. And this was also conveyed in a closed meeting, because of its nature, some closed meetings are opened, some are closed," he added.

Airlangga added that he and Surya Paloh also discussed the challenges of the nation going forward. Starting from the pandemic, inflation, scarcity of cooking oil, to maintaining the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Mr. Surya Paloh revealed various things. Including the main thing to maintain the sustainability of the government as well as unusual challenges. We are facing the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic for two years and it is not over, then the last challenge is the occurrence of political tensions in Ukraine," said Airlangga.

Interestingly, Airlangga also signaled the Golkar coalition in the 2024 gubernatorial election. This was called by Airlangga. After earlier, NasDem encouraged Sahroni and Airin Rachmi Diany as a candidate for governor and deputy governor in the 2024 DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election.

"We saw that Mrs. Airin and Mr. Sahroni were also present here. So we know that the discussion is not only about macro, but also micro-details," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Surya Paloh revealed many things that were discussed by both parties. Starting from efforts to build synergy between the two political parties and an understanding regarding the postponement of the 2024 General Election.

"This is a friendship that gives meaning to the desire of the two political party institutions to build a synergy that has been quite strong so far, further strengthened. It gives meaning to the benefits of the two institutions for the future benefit of our country and nation," Paloh told reporters after meeting Airlangga.

Regarding the 2024 election, Surya Paloh emphasized that NasDem had agreed to prioritize the interests of the community over institutions. The two parties also agreed to focus on overseeing Jokowi's performance until his term of office is over.

"We discussed a lot. All of them basically have the same agreement. We have institutional policies of political parties, both Golkar and NasDem, both NasDem and Golkar, all of which place the national interest above the interests of the two institutions," Paloh explained.

"We also have an agreement that we will continue to strive wholeheartedly, honestly, sincerely, with optimal performance outputs so that the administrative wheels of government under President Jokowi's leadership continue to run effectively until the end of his term of office," he added.

Airlangga visited NasDem accompanied by Nurul Arifin, Lodewijk F. Paulus, Airin Rachmi Diany, Rizal Malarangeng to Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. The arrival of Golkar was welcomed by Paloh accompanied by Hermawi Taslim, Enggartiasto Lukita to Lestari Moerdijat.