Megawati Not Shaking Hands with Surya Paloh, PDIP: Unintentional

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) politician, Hendrawan Supratikno, opened up about the recent non-incident where PDIP chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri was seen not shaking hands with Nasdem Party’s chairman Surya Paloh.

This happened in the new House of Representatives (DPR) inauguration event on Tuesday, October 1. 

“That was not intentional. Sometimes in a large community that has many members, some will not shake hands with others, that is a normal thing,” said Hendrawan at the Senayan Parliamentary Complex today.

He argues that this insignificant event has been framed to show as if there is a rivalry happening between the two pro-government political parties, PDIP and Nasdem. 

The event was captured by the camera crews in the House of Representatives. After shaking hands with several political figures, Megawati - who was walking past people sitting - shook hands with Rizal Mallarangeng from Golkar Party. 

But as she continued to walk by, she suddenly looked the other way and smiled to other people, passing right past Surya Paloh who was sitting beside Rizal. The Nasdem leader - who stood up to shake hands with Megawati - then sat down again with a discouraged expression visible through the camera lenses that recorded it. 

DEWI NURITA | BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI