PAN Participates In Jokowi And Coalition Party Meetings, NasDem Denies Reshuffle Discussions

President Jokowi and the leadership of the coalition political parties and PAN (ISTIMEWA)

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the NasDem Party, Johnny G Plate, said that there was no discussion on the reshuffle or addition of cabinet members even though the Partai Amanat Nasional (PAN) was present at a meeting between President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and the general chairman of the coalition of supporting parties at the State Palace.

"The topic is not a cabinet reshuffle. The topic is not about widening the coalition or adding cabinet members", said Plate at a press conference at his official residence, Wednesday, August 25.

According to him, the meeting discussed more political cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, all policies issued today can be faster, more precise, and efficient to avoid stuttering.

Johnny said PAN Chairman, Zulkifli Hasan, had also expressed his views at the meeting.

"As a new friend in the coalition, especially Mr. Zul, the former chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, from the perspective of the MPR, what kind of deliberation is appropriate in Indonesia", he said.

The presence of Zulhas and Secretary-General of PAN, Eddy Soeparno, continued Johnny, was an invitation from President Jokowi, and all coalition parties supporting the government also welcomed their presence.

"We hope that after PAN joins there will be more diverse ideas for the running of the government", he said.

Johnny explained that in the meeting this afternoon, President Jokowi had explained several things. He said the atmosphere of the meeting was friendly but focused on the five topics of discussion.

There were also five focuses of the discussion related to the development and evaluation of the challenges in handling the COVID-19 pandemic; national economy; economic and business strategy; state administration; and the new National Capital.

"The atmosphere of the meeting was very friendly and in an atmosphere of cohesiveness. The high spirit of cooperation has always been a reference in making participatory policy decisions in the Forward Indonesia Coalition", he concluded.