Politics

The National Mandate Party (PAN), one key member of Prabowo-Gibran’s coalition, has appointed Eko Hendro Purnomo or familiarly known as Eko Patrio, a comedian turned into a politician, as its new Secretary General for 2024-2029 period. Let’s talk a bit about Eko Patrio!

Today, on Oct. 1, the new lawmakers of the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2024-2029 period will be sworn in altogether. Some of them, however, do not deserve to be inaugurated because they actually failed to collect enough votes in the 2024 legislative election but got a favor from their respective party to replace the elected ones.

Some key leaders of PDIP sent a different signal in relation to the upcoming meeting between their matriarch, Megawati Soekarnoputri, and President-elect Prabowo Subianto. This different signal triggers speculation that PDIP is not yet united on whether to join Prabowo’s administration or stay outside of the administration and become the opposition.

It looks like the ‘audition’ of ministers has just been started. President-elect Prabowo Subianto is starting to summon some figures that have been widely tipped as minister candidates into his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java. Who are they?

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan, who is also the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), recently met with Anindya Bakrie, who has just been elected as the new chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) through an extraordinary congress (Munaslub) last week. Anindya is the son of Aburizal Bakrie, former chairman of Golkar Party and a long-time political ally of Zulkifli and President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

It seems that the meeting between President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is the chairman of Gerindra Party, and the fifth President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of PDIP, will happen very soon. However, the biggest question remains: Will Megawati bring PDIP into joining Prabowo’s administration? If PDIP joins Prabowo’s administration, how many portfolios will be given to the Party in the next cabinet?

Muhaimin Iskandar, the chairman of PKB, told the press on Wednesday (Sep. 25) that he doesn’t expect to become a minister in Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet. Muhaimin stated that he wants to focus on managing PKB and pesantren (Islamic boarding school). Really?

We all see more and more signals from the key leaders of PDIP, including Puan Maharani, that the Party might join Prabowo Subianto’s administration. Despite of the obvious signals, however, we cannot discount the possibility that Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of PDIP, might surprise everybody with her final say. Megawati did it before, and she might do it again.

Police Comr. Gen. Nico Afinta, former provincial police chief (Kapolda) of East Java, has been sworn in as the new Secretary General of the Law & Human Rights Ministry, a ministry currently led by Supratman Andi Agtas, a key leader of Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party. Meanwhile, the Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia, who is also the Chairman of Golkar Party, took the oath of Tri Winarno as the new Director General for Mineral and Coal (Minerba).

There are more and more signals that PDIP might join Prabowo Subianto’s administration instead of becoming opposition alone. Given these signals, some started to speculate on who might be proposed by PDIP for becoming ministers in Prabowo’s cabinet. Megawati Soekarnoputri, matriarch of the party, might surprise everybody with her final say though.