Not Invite NasDem To The Palace, Jokowi: He Already Has His Own Coalition

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo admitted that he did not invite the NasDem Party to the meeting of the coalition political parties that carried the government on Tuesday (2/5) night.

According to Jokowi, this was done because NasDem currently already has its own coalition for the 2024 election which is different from the coalition political parties supporting the government.

"NasDem itu, ya kita harus bicara apa adanya, kan sudah memiliki koalisi sendiri dan ini gabungan partai yang kemarin berkumpul itu juga ingin membangun kerja sama politik yang lain," kata Jokowi dilansir ANTARA, Kamis, 4 Mei.

Jokowi referred to the Coalition for Change for Unity declared by NasDem, PKS, together with the Democratic Party on March 25, 2023.

Based on these considerations, Jokowi did not invite the General Chairperson of NasDem Surya Paloh in the meeting to give political party officials who were present to discuss big strategies more openly.

"This (the political party that gathers) should have a big strategy. Yes, the cook here knows the strategy, it shouldn't be like that," he said.

Previously, on Tuesday (2/5) night. President Jokowi invited high-ranking coalition political parties to hold a meeting at the Merdeka Palace.

Present at the meeting were PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, Golkar Party Chair Airlangga Hartarto, Gerindra Party Chair Prabowo Subianto, Plt. PPP Chairman Mardiono, PAN General Chair Zulkifli Hasan, and PKB Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar.

The meeting was held in the midst of a increasingly warming political situation ahead of the 2024 General Election after the PDI-P declared the Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo as a candidate for president. PPP then decided to carry Ganjar.

Ganjar Pranowo is a political figure who has high electability from various surveys. Apart from Ganjar, former DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has also been declared a presidential candidate by the Change Coalition consisting of the Demokat Party, PKS and the Nasdem Party.

Another figure that has a high level of electability is the Head of Gerindra Prabowo Subianto, whose party formed a coalition of Indonesia Raya Awakening with PKB.

Meanwhile, Golkar, PAN and PPP formed the United Indonesia Coalition.