Jakarta (ANTARA) - Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto met Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri at her Central Jakarta residence, Wednesday, following his July 13 reconciliatory meeting with President-elect Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Accompanied by Gerindra's Deputy General Chairman Edy Prabowo and Secretary General Ahmad Muzani, Prabowo arrived at Megawati's residence in a white Toyota Alphard. He was extended a warm welcome by Megawati's son, Mohamad Prananda Prabowo, after arriving and getting off his car at around 12:30 p.m. local time.
Subianto and Megawati, whose party is the main supporter of incumbent President and President-elect Jokowi, appeared happy during their meeting as was apparent in a photograph circulated by the PDIP to journalists.
Megawati enjoyed a round-table lunch along with her guests, her daughter Puan Maharani, her son Prananda Prabowo, and Secretary Cabinet Pranomo Anung.
Megawati and Subianto have known each other well for quite a long time. Moreover, they had contested as the presidential and vice presidential pair during the 2009 Presidential Elections. During that time, their popular slogan was "MegaPro" in their endeavor to challenge the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Boediono pair.
Subianto's meeting with Megawati took place six days after he had met with Gerindra's advisory council members on July 19 for talks on future steps following his reconciliatory meeting with Jokowi on July 13.
At the meeting held at his residence in Hambalang, Bogor District, West Java, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, a member of Gerindra's Advisory Council, noted that Subianto had initially highlighted his measures related to a reconciliation process with Jokowi.
He also sought suggestions from the council's members on measures that Gerinda should necessarily take following his meeting with Jokowi at the MRT Station of Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on Saturday, July 13, he revealed.
Subianto's meeting with his former rival in the 2019 Presidential Elections has given rise to speculations on several pros and cons among those who supported and cast their votes and for the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair. Several of them had even felt a sense of betrayal.
The Subianto-Jokowi meeting at the MRT station has also been questioned by Amien Rais, a staunch supporter of the Prabowo-Sandi pair and chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Honorary Council.
Rais was quoted by Republika on July 18, 2019, as saying that he had met with Subianto on July 17, 2019, during which the latter had confirmed that his July 13 meeting with Jokowi covered no discussions on power sharing.
"Thus, there is no talk about power sharing or about who gets what, how, when, and so forth," Rais was quoted by Republika as saying. Instead, the Subianto-Jokowi meeting was merely aimed at helping placate tensions amid the rifts between the so-called "cebong" (tadpoles) and "kampret" (little bats).
Cebong and kampret are derogatory terms used to hint at supporters of the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin and Subianto-Sandiago Uno (Sandi) camps. The supporters of both camps frequently took potshots at one another, particularly through various social media platforms, owing to differences in political preferences.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) officially declared the Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin pair as Indonesia's president-elect and vice president-elect following the Indonesian Constitutional Court's (MK's) ruling on the presidential election result dispute on June 27, 2019.
According to the KPU's final tally, the Jokowi-Amin pair secured 85 million votes, or 55.5 percent of the national vote, as against the contenders Subianto-Sandi's 68 million votes, or 44.5 percent.
