`Box General`; Why Democrat Backs Out from Supporting Prabowo  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Democrat Party deputy chairman Roy Suryo said that the reason why they backed out from the coalition to support Prabowo Subianto`s presidential candidate had been revealed before. He reminded that Democrat`s deputy secretary general Andi Arief had voiced out the party`s discontent with Prabowo.

Andi Arief had called Gerindra chair Prabowo as a "box general" on the night before the vice presidential candidate announcement.

"A box general has bad qualities. On the evening, he met with Democrat's chairman; saying sweet promises of fighting together. Less than 24 hours later, he surrendered to Sandi Uno's money to entertain PAN and PKS," Andi Arief said through his Twitter account on August 8. 

"I think we all know what Andi Arief had said; that something happened," Roy said at Democrat Party chairman's home Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta today, August 10.  

Andi Arief also accused Sandiaga of paying Rp1 trillion to PKS and PAN; each party getting Rp500 billion. A number of Gerindra politicians denied this statement. PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan also denied it; claiming it was all a hoax.

Roy Suryo said people have the right to doubt Andi Arief's tweet, but defended the man—saying he has reasons to have made the statement.

"Some people said that it was a hoax. Let the law and the facts speak for themselves because Mas Andi Arief has reasons for having tweeted that," he said.

One thing for sure, Roy Suryo said, is that Democrat had been in talks with Gerindra over the last month—establishing good communication, especially with Prabowo.

"We were supposed to have just one room—alone for ourselves; but suddenly we were informed that they are communicating with many other rooms. That is not nice—not pretty. SBY taught us to demonstrate clear political ethics," Roy remarked.