Jokowi, Surya Paloh Meeting at State Palace Lasted More Than an Hour
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18 February 2024 22:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi met with the General Chair of the NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, at the State Palace, Central Jakarta on Sunday, February 18, 2024. The meeting between the two lasted for more than an hour.
According to Tempo's observations at the location, a black Lexus car with plate B 1213 ZZH, which is believed to belong to Surya Paloh, arrived at the State Palace at around 18:45 WIB (Western Indonesia Time). There was no visible police escort accompanying the vehicle.
The NasDem politician entered the State Palace through the Bali Gate or VVIP access. His meeting with the Head of State took place behind closed doors. Journalists who were at the location could only monitor the VVIP access gate from afar due to the State Palace protocol reasons.
About an hour later, the same car was seen leaving the Palace fence. At approximately 20:02 WIB, the vehicle left the Palace and headed straight for Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, still without special escort.
NasDem Party Chairman Surya Paloh's car leaves the Palace premises after meeting President Joko Widodo on Sunday evening, February 18, 2024. TEMPO/Sultan
When confirmed, the President's Special Chief of Staff, Ari Dwipayana, confirmed that Jokowi and Surya Paloh's meeting today lasted approximately one hour. "The meeting is over. About an hour or so," said Ari via short message on Sunday evening, February 18, 2024.
According to Ari, the gathering was held at Surya Paloh's request. "Previously, Mr. Surya Paloh submitted a request to appear before the President," said Ari.
Jokowi, said Ari, then allocated time to receive Surya Paloh's visit this evening. Ari stated that the invitation to meet was made in response to Surya Paloh's request.
Ari said Jokowi and Surya Paloh discussed various things at the meeting, including the election. "Both of them talked about facing various global challenges, including matters related to political dynamics and elections," said Ari.
It is known that this is Jokowi's first meeting with Surya Paloh after the 2024 elections. In this election, Surya Paloh and NasDem supported presidential candidate Anies Baswedan. Meanwhile, Jokowi's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is running as a vice presidential candidate alongside Prabowo Subianto.
Currently, vote counting is still ongoing at the General Election Commission (KPU). According to the preliminary vote count results, the Prabowo-Gibran pair is ahead in the KPU's real count. The pair number two won 49,747,461 votes or the equivalent of 57.95 percent.
Based on Tempo's monitoring on the official KPU website on Sunday, February 18, 2024, the vote counting progress has reached 548,354 out of 823,236 polling places or TPS (66.61 percent).
In second place, Anies-Muhaimin received 21,013,738 votes or 24.48 percent. Meanwhile, Ganjar-Mahfud is in the deadliest position with 15,084,928 or 17.57 percent.
The Prabowo-Gibran pair is superior in almost all regions, or to be precise, 36 out of 38 provinces. They were only defeated by Anies-Muhaimin in Aceh and West Sumatra. Meanwhile in Jakarta, Prabowo-Gibran has a slight lead over Anies-Muhaimin.
SULTAN ABDURRAHMAN | DANIEL A FAJRI
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