Eka Yudha Saputra, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto revealed that he met with the newly elected East Java Governor, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, after being asked by former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. He conveyed this during a speech at the 18th Congress of Muslimat Nahdlatul Ulama in Surabaya, East Java, on Monday, February 10, 2025.

Initially, Prabowo mentioned that he was not very close to the newly elected East Java Governor, admitting that the meeting was upon Jokowi's request.

Prabowo also admitted to having learned about politics from Jokowi and lamented that people ridiculed the former president after he lost power.

"Some people try to drive a wedge between me and Jokowi now, it's quite amusing. Feel free to laugh about it," said Prabowo in his speech.

The General Chair of the Gerindra Party also requested that people not to participate in the efforts to divide the two, as the move is similar to Dutch colonizers trying to sow chaos among Indonesians.

"For hundreds of years, divide et impera has been a strategic tactic to divide the people and the nation of Indonesia, so it should not be heeded," he said.

The issue of a rift in the Prabowo-Jokowi relationship first emerged two months before Prabowo was inaugurated as president on October 20, 2024, when Prabowo mentioned at the time that some parties are thirsty for power.

"Those thirsty for power can harm and disrupt the nation," Prabowo said on Saturday, August 24, 2024.

Prabowo did not specifically mention who he was referring to, but went on to say that good politicians are those who obtain permission from the people to lead them.

Three sources within the coalition party supporting Prabowo-Jokowi revealed that Prabowo was disappointed with the political dynamics of the government at the time. Especially after large demonstrations emerged opposing the revision of the Regional Head Election Law, which did not accommodate the Constitutional Court's decision.

The revision of the Regional Head Election Law was suspected to pave the way for Kaesang Pangarep, Jokowi's son, to run as a gubernatorial candidate.

Jokowi claimed that his relationship with President-elect Prabowo Subianto was in good condition. He believed that Prabowo would continue his programs and lead Indonesia to achieve the 2045 Golden Indonesia goal.

"I am very confident of that," said Jokowi during a speech in front of Gerindra cadre at the closing event of the party's national coordination meeting in Jakarta, Sunday night, September 1, last year.

The rumored rift reemerged amid discussions about a meeting between Prabowo and the Chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Megawati had been at odds with Jokowi since the 2024 presidential election, as Jokowi backed his son, VP Gibran Rakabuming, instead of a PDIP-supported candidate. As a result, PDIP expelled Jokowi and his family from the party membership.

The Secretary-General of the Gerindra Party, Ahmad Muzani, ensured that the meeting between the two leaders would not have any consequences for the relationship between his party's leaders and Jokowi.

"There's no problem," said Muzani when met in South Jakarta on Saturday, January 25, 2025.

– Andi Adam Faturahman, Novali Panji Nugroho, and Hendrik Yaputra contributed to the writing of this article.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1973803/prabowo-says-he-learns-about-politics-from-former-president-jokow