PDIP to Start Communicating with Other Political Parties

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) will start communicating with other political parties that have expressed support to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi's) reelection, secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto said here on Saturday. The party, in a national working meeting on Friday, declared its decision to name Jokowi as its candidate for the presidential election in 2019.

Hasto stated that "actually, there has been a clear picture of the future coalition. We will invite political parties that have already expressed support to Jokowi's reelection to a dialog." He noted that PDIP will also hold a dialog with other parties that have not expressed support.

A government needs legitimacy not only from the people but also from the majority of parliamentary members in order to be strong and stable, he remarked on the sidelines of the party's third national working meeting.

"We will start communicating with parties that first expressed support, meaning those that have representatives in the cabinet, and later we will talk with the other parties," he explained.

Kristiyanto revealed that PDIP will also give a priority based on parties that have parliamentary seats with regard to build cooperation in the future.

He added that PDIP had already carried out political communication with Democrats and Gerindra at the central executive board level, and there had been no problem.

"We have built a spirit of cooperation among political parties in the parliament, and after the national meeting, we will take an initiative to hold a dialog with Gerindra," he explained.

Hasto pointed out that the general chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Zulkifli Hasan, has also asked for a priority to meet PDIP general chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, with certainly his reference as the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

That showed how important a national dialog is and how the assembly should function to reflect people's consultation. Therefore, it must continue to be boosted, he elaborated.

"We will continue to promote MPR as a reflection of people's consultation. So, after this (meeting), the priority will be Soekarnoputri¿s meeting with Hasan," he noted.

ANTARA