‘Former rival’ Prabowo to become Jokowi’s defense minister in Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he initiated a meeting with his two-time presidential challenger on an MRT train because he knew Prabowo Subianto had never used the new system. (Photo: Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau). Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

JAKARTA, Oct 22, 2019, ANTARA. The chief of the Greater Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, Prabowo Subianto, who was Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) rival in the election, claimed he was ready to support the Jokowi administration’s Working Cabinet II by focusing on the defense sector. “I am allowed to state that President Jokowi asked me to help him in the defense sector,” Prabowo said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta Monday evening, reported the ANTARA.

Prabowo, accompanied by the deputy of his party, Edhy Prabowo, arrived at 4:15 p.m. and met Jokowi in the palace for nearly an hour. He, and others who came before him, were all dressed in white shirts.

“The position of Edhy Prabowo, will be informed by the President himself. It, perhaps, will be confirmed later, but it was clear he will be announcing this matter on Wednesday, October 23,” Prabowo said.

Before his arrival at the Presidential Palace, Prabowo met Jokowi at Merdeka Palace on October 11, 2019, where they discussed the opportunity of Gerindra joining the government.

Apart from Prabowo, several other figures, who also arrived at the Presidential Palace this morning were South Minahasa Mayor Christiany Eugenia Paruntu, Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim, President Commissioner NET Mediatama Wishnutama, and founder of Mahaka Group Erick Thohir.

On Sunday, October 20, President Jokowi revealed that he would be introducing his cabinet ministers on Monday, October 21.

The president affirmed on his social media account that the people he had selected were engaged in fields such as academics, bureaucracy, politics, religion, army, and police, and were expected to be innovative, productive, and hardworking.

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