Democracy-NasDem Hot Cold Regarding Anies Vice Presidential Candidate Amidst The Fate Of Changing Coalition, PKS Reminds Not To Disband

Syaikhu, AHY, Surya Paloh and Anies Baswedan. (Twitter @BennyHarmanID)

JAKARTA - Relations between the Democratic Party and the NasDem Party have warmed up again. The reason for this is the Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Party DPP, Jansen Sitindaon, insinuating that the Deputy Chairperson of NasDem, Ahmad Ali, makes too many statements related to the criteria for Anies Baswedan's cawapres.

The relationship between the two parties planning a coalition was chilly when the Democrats wanted their general chairman, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), to be Anies' companion. However, NasDem said the name of the vice presidential candidate for Anies was taken from a figure with experience in government.

The matter of differences of opinion then subsided after a small team was formed by NasDem, Democrats, and PKS to declare a Coalition for Change as well as discuss the strategy for the 2024 Election.

However, this time the confrontation between the two parties opened again when they mentioned Anies' vice presidential candidate.

The Democrats, who are candidates for the NasDem coalition partner, objected because Surya Paloh's subordinates made too many statements to the public. In fact, according to the Democrats, the issue of running for vice president Anies should be able to be conveyed in the internal forum of the members of the Coalition for Change candidates.

Jansen then alluded to the fate of changes that could be dissolved because of Ali's statements.

"The point is Bang Ahmad Ali every week a new name keeps coming out of his mouth. After a while this coalition disbanded because of his statements. Haha. Officially, we have formed a 3-party team to discuss this. If there are suggestions for names, ideas, etc., convey them through it. It's not being exposed to the public," Jansen said in a tweet on Twitter, as quoted on Tuesday, January 17, 2021.

Therefore, Jansen invited Ali and all the coalition party elites to be orderly in communicating with the public. Moreover, he said, the three parties both have seats in parliament that are not much different.

According to him, no one should feel superior to the Democrats, Nasdem, and PKS. Then, by feeling superior they can make statements as they like.

"So let's cadres of these 3 parties communicate to the public in an orderly manner. Because the difference between the seats for Nasdem/Democrat/PKS is narrow: 59/54/50. So, don't feel like you're being the most dominating by continuing to make statements as you please,” Jansen continued.

Responding to this, Ahmad Ali actually denied that he was spitting out the name of the vice presidential candidate to accompany Anes Baswedan. In fact, Ali admitted that he did not know Jansen.

"First, who is Jansen? Who is Jansen?" said Ahmad Ali, Tuesday, January 17.

Ali then questioned the coalition with the Democratic Party, which according to Jansen would disband if one of the parties dominated. According to Ali, NasDem has not declared itself in a coalition with Democrats.

"Since when did you form a coalition? Are the NasDem and Democrats already in a coalition?" he snapped.

Ali emphasized that NasDem had never talked about a suitable person to accompany Anies. However, he said that so far the NasDem has only talked about the criteria for vice president.

"When talking about Jansen's statement, that NasDem has never talked about vice presidential candidates. NasDem has never talked about who is the ideal cawapres, but NasDem is more interested in talking about the criteria for a vice presidential candidate," he said.

The DPR member stressed that the Coalition for Change could not be said to have disbanded because of a declaration. For this reason, Ali considered that the coalition for change carried out by NasDem, Democrats, and PKS should make a declaration first.

"If this coalition can be dissolved, just make a quick declaration," he said.

PKS: Don't be too sensitive, threaten to disband every time, let's just enjoy it

Meanwhile, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) intervened so that the NasDem and Democrats would not be overly emotional. PKS appealed to the discussion regarding Anies' vice presidential candidate to be taken lightly because basically, the three parties are looking for common ground.

"You can't get emotional, let's just enjoy it. Don't threaten to disband, threaten to cancel. The enthusiasm is to build common ground. There is already a small team that is brewing and harmonizing various views," PKS spokesperson M Kholid told journalists, Tuesday, January 17.

Kholid assessed that in a coalition, one must build the spirit to fight together. "The good thing is, the narrative is just fun, because we want to fight together, so we have to build a spirit of togetherness, not just increase the dispute," he said.

Therefore, Kholid admitted that he was optimistic about the change coalition plan, which was only one step away from being declared.

"PKS itself is optimistic about the coalition's plan for change, the journey is already far away, all that remains is to finish the task. It's like trying to score a ball, these crosses are good, all that's left is to execute the kick on goal so that the goal requires patience, discipline and accuracy," he concluded.