Observer: Indonesia's Foreign Policy Regarding Palestine Will Not Change In The Next Government

JAKARTA - International relations observer Arfin Sudirman believes that Indonesia's foreign policy regarding Palestine will not change in the next government period, namely 2024-2029.

Arfin said this was in response to the congratulation by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for Indonesian Presidential Candidate Prabowo Subianto.

"The agenda for Indonesia's foreign policy in encouraging Palestine to become a fully sovereign country does not seem to change. It is very likely that Indonesia's foreign policy agenda will continue to be encouraged by achieving as much sympathy from the international community regarding the importance of realizing a full independent Palestine," said Arfin, quoted from Antara, Monday, March 11.

Arfin also said that Indonesia's assistance to Palestine would continue to be given to the next government.

"Indonesia's assistance to Palestine will always be established considering that this agenda is a routine agenda of anyone who becomes president because of the massive factor of the sympathy of the Indonesian people for the Palestinian struggle," he said.

Meanwhile, Arfin said that the congratulations of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Prabowo were part of a relationship that had been built consistently for a long time.

"Since the beginning of independence, Indonesia has always been consistent in the struggle for Palestinian independence. So, this statement has actually been a part of a consistent relationship for a long time and will not be influenced by anyone who is elected president in the 2024 presidential election," he said.

Previously, Prabowo received congratulations from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for having outperformed the vote on two other pairs of candidates.

This statement was conveyed by Mahmoud via a letter sent by the Palestinian Embassy in Jakarta dated February 25, 2024. Prabowo also uploaded the letter to his personal social media account, @prabowo, on Thursday, March 7.

"We are pleased to convey our sincere congratulations to Your Majesty for the success of achieving the trust of brothers and sisters throughout Indonesia and winning the presidential election," Mahmoud said in the letter.

Prabowo also replied to the congratulations through his X account.

"It is an honor for me to receive congratulations on the temporary results of the 2024 General Election from the President of the State of Palestine, His Majesty Mahmoud Abbas," Prabowo said in his upload.

Prabowo ensured that he would continue to support Palestine, which is currently being hit by war conflicts in achieving its independence.

"The Indonesian people are always with Palestine at its most difficult times and will continue to support the Palestinian people's struggle to achieve complete peace and independence," Prabowo said.

The list of world figures who have congratulated Prabowo until Monday (11/3), is as follows.

Via telephone:1. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese2. PM Singapore Lee Hsien Loong3. PM Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim4. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe5. United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan6. French President Emmanuel Macron7. Timorese President Leste Ramos-Horta

Through social media and letters: 1. Czech Republic PM Petr Fiala2. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak3. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi4. Philippine President Bongbong Marcos5. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan6. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas7. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi8. Russian President Vladimir Putin9. President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega10. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte 11. Thai Prime Minister Srettta Thavisin

Based on the "Plenary Meeting of Recapitulation of National Level Vote Accounting Results" conducted by the General Election Commission (KPU) of the Republic of Indonesia from Wednesday February 28 to Monday 4 March, the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka pair won 421,605 votes in 127 regions of the Overseas Election Committee (PPLN).

In second place is Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar with 120,085 votes, and the last position is Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md who received 117,351 votes.

Meanwhile, based on the national recapitulation until Monday at 17.30 WIB, the Indonesian KPU has approved the vote acquisition for the presidential election at eight provinces at the national level; namely the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Gorontalo, Central Kalimantan, Bali, Lampung, Bangka Belitung, West Kalimantan, and South Sumatra.

The Prabowo-Gibran pair won 14,023,664 votes in the eight provinces. Furthermore, Ganjar-Mahfud received 4,125,376 votes, and Anies-Muhaimin won 3,791,858 votes.

The 2024 presidential election was attended by three pairs, namely Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar candidate pair number 1, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka candidate pair number 2, and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md. candidate pair number 3.

In accordance with KPU Regulation Number 3 of 2022, the recapitulation of the 2024 General Election is scheduled to take place from February 15 to March 20, 2024.