Jakarta – President-elect and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto met with political party leaders grouped in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) at the Defense Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday. The meeting lasted around two hours.
Among those present were Surya Paloh of the NasDem Party, Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Bahlil Lahadalia of the Golkar Party, Zulkifli Hasan of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) of the Democratic Party.
Bahlil was the first person to leave the building. He denied claims that the meeting involved discussions about the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) joining the Prabowo-Gibran Rakabuming Raka cabinet.
"There was no discussion. We discussed the country, not the parties," Bahlil said, as quoted by kumparan.com.
Bahlil also denied that ministerial appointments were on the agenda. "We, the chairmen of the coalition parties, discussed future developments with Pak Prabowo after the inauguration," Bahlil said.
Prabowo and Gibran will be installed as president and vice president on Sunday at the House of Representatives compound in Central Jakarta.
Similarly, Zulkifli revealed that the gathering of KIM leaders was aimed at future consolidation. "Hopefully, we can unite and make Indonesia a developed country," he said.
He noted that the meeting also allowed party leaders to wish Prabowo a happy birthday, which fell on the same day.
The president-elect posted pictures of him celebrating the occasion with KIM leaders on social media.
"Thank you for your prayers and warm wishes on my birthday. Your support and unity mean a lot to me. Let's work together to maintain national unity and realize a just, prosperous Indonesia," Prabowo said in the post shared on Friday, as quoted by tempo.co.
One picture shows Prabowo and the KIM leaders laughing together, while in another shot, the president-elect is seen embracing Paloh and chatting with him and Prabowo's former wife Titiek Soeharto.
Previously, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Prabowo held two days of meetings with figures expected to become members of his cabinet at his personal residence in Hambalang, Bogor regency, West Java.