Gathering To Megawati's House 'Unusual,' Observers: Strengthening Prospects For Prabowo-Puan In 2024

The Minister of Defense who is also the General Chair of the Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto during an Eid gathering with the PDIP Chairperson Megawati (Photo Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Political observer from Paramadina University Khoirul Umam argues that Prabowo Subianto's relationship with PDIP Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri strengthens Prabowo-Puan Maharani's prospects in the 2024 presidential election.

"This closeness further strengthens the possibility of a presidential/vice presidential candidate pair Prabowo-Puan in the 2024 presidential election contestation," said Khoirul Umam in Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, May 3.

According to this lecturer in Political Science and International Studies at Paramadina University, the gathering of Megawati, Prabowo Subianto, and Puan Maharani in the momentum of Eid 2022 is not just an ordinary gathering.

"The meeting indicated that political communication was getting closer, intensive and fluid between the political power nodes of PDIP and Gerindra," said Khoirul Umam.

Khoirul also considered the Prabowo-Puan duo to be quite convincing because Prabowo's electability in almost all surveys was still at the top of the standings 2 years before the 2024 presidential election.

On the other hand, although Puan's electability is still relatively low, she holds the key to the major political power of PDIP, which as of today is still consistently at the top of the political party survey ahead of 2024.

"Moreover, now is the time for Megawati to give Puan the opportunity to become a skilled fighter," said the Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy & Strategic Affairs.

If Megawati wants to regenerate smoothly, Khoirul Umam thinks that the step to encourage Puan to appear in the 2024 presidential election is the right choice because Megawati can still be a mentor and can still monitor the movement of her party's political machine.

Thus, he said, armed with this political power, it is natural that the Prabowo-Puan pair are still quite prospective to be proposed in the 2024 presidential election.

"The electability base and the solid power of the party engine are enough to promise an effective political engine for the success of the Prabowo-Puan pair in the 2024 presidential election," said the Doctor of Political Science from The University of Queensland, Australia.