Finally Prabowo Reveals The Reason For Joining Jokowi's Government

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of the Gerindra Party and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto revealed the reason he joined the government of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

In front of Gerindra cadres in the Grand Consolidation at Jakarta International Velodrome, East Jakarta. Prabowo said that he has a common heart with Jokowi, who both love red and white.

"Why did I join Pak Jokowi? Why am I now fighting with him? Because after I interacted with him, even though we were rivals, even though we were against each other, we competed, and even though I was defeated twice, I felt that he had the same heart as me, he loved red and white," Prabowo said as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, July 16.

Prabowo said that Jokowi was a patriot. That is the reason why Prabowo did not hesitate to fight with Jokowi, regardless of their rivalry in the previous two presidential elections (pilpres).

"His heart is red and white, he is a patriot. Therefore, I have no doubt," he said.

Prabowo and Jokowi are known to have participated in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. Prabowo, who was paired with Hatta Rajasa in the 2014 presidential election, has not succeeded in outperforming the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla pair, who at that time won the presidential election.

Then in the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo, who collaborated with Sandiaga Uno, also lost to the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin pair. After the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo then joined Jokowi's government as Minister of Defense.

Prabowo also expressed his gratitude for the support of the cadres for his upcoming presidential election contestation. He said he would continue to defend the nation and people of Indonesia, either if elected as president or not.

" Brothers and sisters, thank you, brothers and sisters for supporting me, thank you for shouting 'Prabowo President', but I am president or not president, I will still defend my nation and people," he said.

In accordance with the schedule of the General Election Commission (KPU) of the Republic of Indonesia, the registration of prospective pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates will start from October 19 to November 25, 2023.

Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections (UU Pemilu) regulates that pairs of presidential/vice-presidential candidates are proposed by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in elections that meet the requirements for obtaining seats of at least 20 percent of the total number of seats in the DPR or obtaining 25 percent of valid votes nationally in the previous election for members of the DPR.

Currently, there are 575 seats in parliament, so that the presidential/vice presidential candidate pair in the 2024 presidential election must have at least 115 seats in support from the Indonesian House of Representatives. Candidate pairs can also be promoted by political parties or a combination of political parties participating in the 2019 Election, with a total valid vote acquisition of at least 34,992,703 votes.