Jakarta, 16 August 2024 (TDI): Indonesia’s president-elect Prabowo Subianto has secured a parliamentary majority after the party that supported his rival in the February elections announced it was joining his big-tent coalition.
The NasDem party, which accounts for about 10% of parliament, announced late on Thursday that it would back the incoming administration of Prabowo.
The development will give the Prabowo government control over parliament, increasing its stake from 43% to 52%.
The parliamentary majority is likely to make easy legislative processes, including approval of the budget next year, which outgoing President Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, is set to announce on Friday.
Ex-commander Prabowo, and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the eldest son of Jokowi, will be sworn into office on October 20.
Nasdem chief Surya Paloh told journalists on Thursday that his decision to join Prabowo would foster a “calmer and more optimistic” atmosphere and ease the work of the incoming administration.
“We agree to collaborate and cooperate to face challenges in the future,” said Prabowo, after meeting Paloh, “Unity is the key to a country’s success.” Prabowo, whose coalition includes 5 political parties, is also in talks with Indonesia’s largest Islamic party, which has a 10% parliamentary share. NasDem previously supported Anies Baswedan, a former Jakarta governor and vocal government critic, who was defeated by Prabowo in this year’s presidential polls.
The party’s decision to join hands with Prabowo has led it to withdraw backing for Anies’s bid for Jakarta governor this November. Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang has in recent weeks been touted as a potential candidate for the position of governor in Jakarta or Central Java.
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Anies, who polls show is the frontrunner in the Jakarta race, has been struggling to find enough parties to back him.
Anies said that “despite the pressure” he was optimistic he would ultimately secure the support of parties with the required threshold of 20% of seats in the regional parliament.
