One of Indonesia’s fiercest political rivalries over the last decade may be at an end after former president and current Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri sent a lunch invitation to Gerindra Chairman Prabowo Subianto, who was defeated in this year’s presidential election by PDI-P cadre President Joko Widodo.
The rivalry between PDI-P and Gerindra can be traced all the way back to 2009, when Megawati ran for her second term as president with Prabowo as her running mate. She was eventually defeated by Democratic Party leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), who went on to serve for two terms.
Relations between PDI-P and Gerindra turned extremely sour by 2014, during which time Megawati was said to have reneged on her promise to have her party back Prabowo’s presidential bid in return for his backing her in 2009. Instead, she nominated then-Jakarta Governor Jokowi, who defeated Prabowo five years ago and again in a rematch this year.
But since Prabowo’s defeat was made legally official last month, both parties have taken major steps to reconcile in order to heal a politically divided country. After Prabowo met with Jokowi to show his support for the president earlier this month, the former military general accepted an invitation by Megawati to have lunch with her at her home today and offer the public a glimpse at a rare sight: the two senior politicians being in the same space together.
Prabowo arrived at Megawati’s residence just after noon today, greeted by Megawati herself and several other PDI-P senior politicians, including her daughter, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani. All appeared to be in jovial spirits and Megawati even prepared a special dish for her special guest.
“I saw earlier that even the onions Ibu Megawati used to cook were specially picked,” PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristianto told reporters, as quoted by Detik.
It appears that those onions were chopped up to make bakwan (a vegetable fritter snack) for the meal’s appetizer.
Both Gerindra and PDI-P officials say the meeting is nothing more than a social visit between old friends, and they rebuffed any suggestions that Prabowo and Megawati were discussing an alliance between the two parties.
During the political reconciliation talks between PDI-P and Gerindra over the past few weeks, speculation has been rife that Gerindra may end up leaving the opposition coalition — which it has led — to join the PDI-P-led government coalition. That said, Gerindra officials have yet to say what the near future holds for the party.
While other parties in the opposition coalition have also expressed interest in jumping over to the government coalition, the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has been the only major party to remain steadfast in its desire to continue opposing the government, considering that the government already has a super majority in parliament.
