Prabowo Subianto And Jokowi's Meeting Is A Tradition To Be Appreciated

JAKARTA President Prabowo Subianto's meeting with Joko Widodo in Solo some time ago was thick with political nuances. Political analyst Andriadi Achmad said that the Prabowo government still needed Jokowi's mentor.

Prabowo visited Jokowi's residence in Sumber Village, RT 4 RW 7, Banjarsari District, Solo, on Sunday (3/11/2024). Only about 15 minutes the former Minister of Defense was there, before the two headed to Angkringan Omah Semar in Jajar Village, Laweyan District.

The dinner between Prabowo and Jokowi was closed, they were even reluctant to clearly reveal the meaning of the meeting last weekend. After meeting for about an hour, Prabowo had time to answer several journalists' questions. "The discussion of this problem and that," Prabowo said with a laugh when answering questions from the media crew.

Although Prabowo and Jokowi's relationship had heated up in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, their relationship melted after the former mayor of Solo appointed him as Minister of Defense for the 2019-2024 period.

Their relationship is getting closer and several times they are seen meeting outside the official meeting. Throughout 2024 alone, they were seen meeting six times. Starting from eating meatballs together in Magelang before the 2024 presidential election, to having dinner at the Plataran, Gelora Bung Karno, before Jokowi retired.

Most recently, they also met and ate at an angkringan in Solo. This is the first meeting with Prabowo's status as president while Jokowi is a former president.

On this occasion, Prabowo admitted that his chat at Jokowi's subscription angkringan was not related to politics. Meanwhile, Gerindra Party Secretary General Ahmad Muzani said Prabowo had promised to meet Jokowi in Solo.

"Pak Prabowo did promise after Pak Jokowi stayed in Solo, he would visit Pak Jokowi and he fulfilled his promise," said Muzani.

He stated that the meeting was just an ordinary family gathering. In addition, Prabowo also wanted to know about the former president of the Republic of Indonesia's activities after returning to his hometown.

"And how was Pak Jokowi's activities while in Solo. (Meeting) It was just an ordinary gathering. Family," he said.

Executive Director of Nusantara Institute Political Communication Studies and Research Center (PolCom SRC) Andriadi Achmad assessed that there was nothing excessive when President Prabowo Subianto met Jokowi as a former president.

This, said Andriadi, is not only done in the context of friendship, of course there is political content or others.

"The Prabowo-Gibran administration has only been around for the duration of corn, so it still needs Jokowi's mentor in moving forward," Andriadi told VOI.

It is no longer a secret that Jokowi provides support to the Prabowo-Gibran Rakabuming Raka pair in the 2024 presidential election. This pair is also committed to continuing the government programs of the Jokowi era.

The second most recent meeting in Solo, according to Andriadi, is a positive signal for the sustainability of Jokowi's program.

"We hope that in the future, the leadership relay in Indonesia will not be peppered with hatred and political grudges," he said.

"Because after all, implicitly the new leader still needs instructions and guidance from the previous leadership. So there is sustainability in unfinished work programs," added Andriadi.

President Prabowo Subianto's visit to Solo to meet the Seventh President Jokowi occurred during the 2024 simultaneous Regional Head Election campaign (Pilkada) which will be held on November 27. No wonder the two meetings were linked to the Pilkada. However, according to Andriadi, Jokowi currently does not have a major influence in the Pilkada even though his son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, is running in the North Sumatra gubernatorial election.

"When it comes to Jokowi's influence in the regional elections, yes, but especially the Central Java or Jakarta regional elections, considering that he is from Central Java and the former Governor of Jakarta," said the lecturer at Al Azhar University Indonesia.

"For the regional elections, other regions, it seems that Jokowi's influence is not significant," Andriadi said again.

Meanwhile, political communication observer Hendri Satrio said the meeting in Solo was not an ordinary meeting, but showed a dynamic relationship between the two figures. He said the meeting also indicated that there were political strategies being discussed.

"Maybe we can discuss the Pilkada, discuss the cabinet, or maybe also talk about the newly formed National Solidarity Movement (GSN)," said the man who is familiarly called Hensat.

Regarding public accusations that Prabowo is still under Jokowi's shadow, Hendri believes that this 1951-born man is a sovereign leader without being influenced by previous leaders.

"I still give Pak Prabowo the opportunity to continue to run his cabinet, his government for the next 100 days," he said.

Apart from whatever the purpose of Prabowo Subianto's meeting with Jokowi, Andriadi Achmad gave a thumbs up for the national attitude shown by the two, considering they had been in a bad relationship before.

President Prabowo's national spirit to former President Jokowi is a tradition that needs to be appreciated. This means that the new leadership does not simply ignore the previous leadership," concluded Andriadi.