Prabowo delivering a speech during an event at the Democratic Party headquarters on March 27, 2024 with Susilo's painting by his side. - The Jakarta Post/Antara
JAKARTA: President-elect Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday (March 27) that once he is in office he will make an effort to display paintings by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the new presidential palace.
Speaking during an iftar dinner at the Democratic Party headquarters in Jakarta, Prabowo said that it was likely that he would put Susilo's paintings on display at the planned presidential palace in Nusantara, the country's new capital in East Kalimantan.
"I can look for space for this painting. Probably in the new presidential palace," Prabowo said, after receiving a brand new painting from Susilo's, which he created as a gift to the president-elect.
The painting, "Standing Firm Like Rocks," depicting waves crashing into a pillar of rock, was dedicated by Susilo to Prabowo and is a metaphor for the relationship between the two senior politicians as they face the prospect of collaboration in the future.
Upon receiving the painting, Prabowo said that he was honoured and moved by the gesture.
"I am so touched that you honour me in such a way. With your own hands, you gift me this," Prabowo said.
Soon after leaving office in 2014, Susilo took up a new hobby of painting expressionist artworks in his free time. The artworks have frequently been featured in his social media posts.
While in office, Susilo also developed his singing skills and released compilations of mostly slow ballads. Susilo said it took him 10 hours to finish the new painting he dedicated to Prabowo.
Prabowo, a three-time presidential candidate, won the Feb 14 presidential election with over 96 million of a total of roughly 164 million votes, according to the final count by the General Elections Commission.
The Democratic Party initially backed the candidacy of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan with the expectation of the party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono being picked as vice presidential candidate.
The party left Anies' electoral alliance after he picked National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar as running mate. Susilo's gamble paid off with Agus now serving as agrarian reform minister in the administration of outgoing President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
