Achmad Ali, Surabaya – The National Awakening Party (PKB) on Friday announced its decision to part ways with the political alliance supporting Prabowo Subianto for president and join a rival group endorsing Anies Baswedan as the 2024 presidential candidate.

This move had been widely anticipated, especially after PKB Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar was selected as the running mate for Anies by the National Democratic Party (Nasdem).

"We have accepted and will act upon Nasdem's request for our chairman, Muhaimin Iskandar, to run alongside Anies Baswedan in the 2024 presidential election," PKB Secretary-General Muhammad Hasanuddin Wahid said after a party meeting in Surabaya.

Initially, PKB had formed an alliance with Prabowo's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). However, Muhaimin's aspiration to be a running mate was thrown into uncertainty when two other parties joined the coalition.

Muhaimin grew increasingly frustrated after the coalition changed its name from the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition, which had been named after the collaboration between PKB and Gerindra, to the Forward Indonesia Coalition.

The secretary-general said that Muhaimin had wanted to depart from the Prabowo coalition as soon as the name change occurred.

"The pairing of Muhaimin Iskandar and Anies Baswedan will be known as 'Amin,' and we hope they can secure victory in the 2024 presidential election," Hasanuddin said.

In a series of developments, the Democratic Party threatened to abandon the three-party coalition in favor of Anies, whom they accused of reneging on an earlier promise to have party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono as a running mate.

Earlier in the day, the party released a photograph of a handwritten letter purportedly signed by Anies, indicating his desire to team up with Agus for the 2024 elections.

"We must consider seeking better coalition partners," said Democratic Party founder Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after his son lost the opportunity to appear on the ballot.

It was the Democratic Party that first revealed Muhaimin's candidacy as a running mate for Anies.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/pkb-leaves-prabowo-for-anie