Don't Want To Follow PAN's Steps, PPP And Golkar In Coalition, PDIP: Don't Bring The Contest Too Early, Waste Of Energy

PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto. (Tsa Tsia/VOI)

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the PDI-P (PDIP) Hasto Kristiyanto understands that each party needs to prepare for the 2024 General Election.

"PDIP realizes that every party is also getting ready to contest in (Election, ed) 2024, but the interests of the people must be prioritized," Hasto told reporters at Banteng Square, Central Jakarta, Friday, May 20.

This is the reason why the party bearing the bull symbol refuses to follow the steps of PAN, PPP, and Golkar which have formed a coalition called the United Indonesia Coalition. He emphasized that PDIP's main focus is currently helping the government restore many sectors that had been hit by the pandemic.

"Don't take the contest too early and then waste our energy for the improvement and progress of the nation and the post-pandemic state. This is what we encourage," he added.

Hasto reminded that there are stages in the election. So, PDIP has not thought about a coalition.

PDIP, he continued, is currently focusing on guarding President Jokowi's government and solving problems in the community. Moreover, currently conditions in the country are facing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war.

"There are stages in the election. There is a priority scale," he said.

"We share limited energy, the focus is limited energy for the people at this time until there is time to build political party cooperation," added Hasto.

As previously reported, the General Chair of the Golkar Party, Airlangga Hartarto, held a meeting with PAN Chair Zulkifli Hasan and PPP General Chair Suharso Monoarfa in the Menteng area, Central Jakarta, Thursday, May 12.

Airlangga said the meeting was a gathering in the context of Eid al-Fitr. However, he did not deny that there had been coalition talks for the 2024 presidential election.

Meanwhile, PPP General Chair Suharso Monoarfa said they wanted to announce as early as possible the cooperation that would be established before the 2024 general election began. In addition, he wants to strengthen the togetherness of these three political parties.

"We want to show or demonstrate a much earlier and more beautiful cooperation between political parties to complement each other and to strengthen each other's togetherness for the same things," said Suharso.