Prabowo's Joke To Anies-Cak Imin In The Speech Of Presidential Determination 2024: I Was In Your Position, Know Your Smile Is Very Heavy

President-elect 2024 Prabowo Subianto in a speech at the Jakkarta KPU Building, Wednesday 24 April 2024 (Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Prabowo Subianto alluded to the names of Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar in his speech after being officially appointed president and vice president elected for the 2024 election with Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

To Anies and Cak Imin who also attended the KPU determination, Prabowo admitted that he had experienced defeat in the 2019 presidential election contestation.

Although Anies and Cak Imin made a smile when they saw him declared president-elect, Prabowo knew it was hard to do.

"The contest has been completed, the match is over. We are all tired and maybe some of us are dissatisfied and disappointed. Mas Anies, Mas Muhaimin, I was in your position. I know your smile is very heavy," Prabowo said at the KPU RI office, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, April 24.

A room filled with officials from state institutions, leaders of political parties, and the ranks of the campaign team laughed at Prabowo's statement. Gibran, who stood beside Prabowo, also smiled while applauding.

However, Prabowo continued, this is indeed the condition of political competition. According to him, the attitude of the election participants who sharply criticize each other against their competitors is indeed needed by the people in determining the choice of the candidate for leader.

"If the contest is good, if the contestants are not sharp and not loud, the name is not an option for the people. The people ask for choice, the people ask for a comparison, and I thank Mas Anies and Muhaimin, I also thank Mas Ganjar and Professor Mahfud," explained Prabowo.

Furthermore, Prabowo admitted that he was grateful that the democratic process which ran with three pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates was quite long and confiscated the energy and thought had been completed. However, he emphasized that all parties who had previously competed must now work together.

"After this, the people demand that all elements of the leadership must work together. Collaboration must be carried out to bring goodness, to bring prosperity, to eliminate poverty, to eliminate hunger, to eliminate corruption in the Indonesian nation," he stressed.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) officially appointed Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka as president and vice president elected for the 2024 General Election at the Indonesian KPU office.

This is stated in KPU Decree Number 504 of 2024 concerning the Determination of Candidate Pairs for President and Vice President Elected in the 2024 General Election read out by the Chairman of the Indonesian KPU Hasyim Asy'ari.

"Determining the presidential and vice presidential candidate pair number 2 H. Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka as pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates elected for the 2024-2029 period in the 2024 General Election with 96,214,691 votes or 58.59 percent of the total national legitimate votes and meeting at least 20 percent of the votes in each province spread across 38 provinces from 38 provinces in Indonesia," said Hasyim when reading the decision.

This determination was also stated in the minutes signed by all members of the Indonesian KPU. When the minutes were signed, the ranks of the Prabowo-Gibran National Campaign Team (TKN) applauded to celebrate the candidate pair's victory.

Prabowo and Gibran couldn't help but smile happily in response to the applause from their winning team. Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar also responded with a smile.

After that, the minutes were submitted to a number of state institutions and all political parties carrying and supporters of presidential-vice presidential candidates in the 2024 General Election. Followed by the reading of a speech from Prabowo-Gibran after being appointed as president and vice president-elect.