Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – One day after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo made a joint appearance with Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Gerindra Party and his former rival in the 2014 presidential election, during which the two political heavyweights made a statement calling for calm and unity ahead of a Nov. 4 rally in Jakarta, political elites in the capital are scrambling to respond to the show of force.
Former president and chairman of the Democratic Party Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for example, met with Wiranto, the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, on Tuesday morning for a 50-minute discussion on the latest political developments in the nation.
Later on Tuesday evening, Yudhoyono held another meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, his former deputy during his 2004-2009 term.
After the meeting, Kalla said the two had discussed the latest political developments, including ways to deal with the planned rally by Muslim groups on Nov. 4 and their call for the prosecution of incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy.
When asked if the meeting discussed the allegation that Yudhoyono was behind the planned rally, Kalla said: "No, I don't believe he [Yudhoyono] had anything to do with it. We did not discuss that issue."
Unconfirmed reports have claimed that individuals close to Yudhoyono orchestrated the rally to demand the prosecution of Ahok in the hope that once the governor was tried for blasphemy and found guilty, he would be disqualified from running in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. This would then dramatically boost the chances of victory for Democratic Party candidate and son of Yudhoyono, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.
Kalla said the Democratic Party would not play any role in the planned rally on Friday. "It is very likely that the Democratic Party will take a softer stance and does not want to create more trouble," Kalla said.
In his meeting with Wiranto, Yudhoyono claimed that the two of them had only discussed current national issues. "[They] only discussed issues facing the nation," Democratic Party deputy chairman Roy Suryo told The Jakarta Post.
Wiranto, meanwhile, maintained that they did not discuss a missing report on the murder case of prominent human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, or anything related to the Nov. 4 rally.
Wiranto said he had a good relationship with the former president that dated back to their military days. Both officials played key roles in the 1998 transition period when Wiranto served as commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces and defense minister and Yudhoyono served as chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces Social and Political Affairs Division.
"Our relationship has lasted until today. Sometimes I also visit Cikeas [Yudhoyono's home] just to talk, so there is nothing special [about today's meeting]," Wiranto said.
Many, however, see the meetings between Yudhoyono and Wiranto and Kalla as a snub from Jokowi. Jokowi and Yudhoyono have had a cool relationship to date, marked by gestures and statements that many see as hostile.
In March this year, Yudhoyono said Jokowi's administration had allocated too much money to infrastructure projects. Jokowi responded by visiting the deserted Hambalang sports facility project in Bogor, West Java, which was halted after a corruption scandal rocked the Democratic Party.
Late in October, the State Palace blamed Yudhoyono's administration for the missing report into Munir's case, as the fact-finding team tasked with probing into the murder case was set up during Yudhoyono's tenure in 2004. Yudhoyono responded by speaking out and saying that he wanted the truth behind Munir's murder to be revealed, and gave a copy of the missing report to the State Palace.