JAKARTA: Rosan Roeslani (pic), deputy minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and chief of the Prabowo Subianto campaign, reportedly visited the residence of Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri on two separate occasions on Wednesday (April 10), the first day of Aidilfitri.
Megawati’s PDI-P backed rival candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the 2024 presidential election.
Rosan’s first visit occurred in the morning and lasted some five minutes, and he made a second visit in the afternoon that lasted around 1.5 hours, according to media reports.
He did not respond to questions from journalists waiting outside Megawati’s residence, Kompas.com reported.
Last Monday, Rosan was spotted meeting Megawati’s daughter Puan Maharani, according to news portal Detik.com, which cited a photo of the pair uploaded on April 1 to a social media account belonging to People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo.
Puan chairs the PDI-P’s central executive board, and is reportedly up for renomination as Speaker of the House of Representatives after her party won the largest portion of votes in the legislative election.
Rosan’s visits to the PDI-P leaders come amid the ongoing electoral dispute at the Constitutional Court, which was filed jointly by losing candidates Ganjar and Anies Baswedan.
Following the official announcement in late March declaring a landslide victory for Prabowo, Ganjar and Anies filed a petition with the court to challenge the results of the presidential election, claiming state interference and large-scale fraud during the election process.
Megawati has yet to meet with Prabowo since he was declared president-elect, with the PDI-P saying that such a meeting would take place only after the court had settled the electoral dispute.
The court’s ruling on the matter is expected sometime later this month.
Politicians have, however, used the Ramadan tradition of silaturahmi (strengthening kinship) in the past to explore alliances or to size up their competition by visiting the homes of their political allies or rivals, a move often dubbed as a “political safari”.
While details are unknown about what Rosan and Megawati discussed, members of Prabowo’s Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) hailed the visit and said they did not oppose the idea of joining forces with the PDI-P.
“It’s good, especially the fact that the meeting took place during the holy month of Ramadan,” said Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto, as quoted by state-owned news agency Antara.
“In principle, the KIM is open to [forming] a coalition.”
Even though PDI-P candidate Ganjar came in last in the presidential election on Feb 14, the party led in the legislative election and secured 110 out of the 580 seats in the House.
On Feb 15, PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto hinted that the party was prepared to lead the opposition in the next government, after leading the national legislature as the majority party for the past 10 years.
Former vice president Jusuf Kalla, who had backed anti-establishment candidate Anies in the 2024 general election, said that while he welcomed Rosan’s visit to Megawati, the ongoing electoral dispute at the court must be respected.
“It’s Ramadan, all house guests must be welcomed. This is a good sign,” Jusuf said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
“Politically, of course this is good. But there are also certain parties currently asking for clarity in the judicial process, and we see this is the reality,” he continued. Other officials also spotted paying a visit to Megawati on the first day of Aidilfitri were Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.
While it is unknown whether Megawati would be meeting with Prabowo in the coming days, PDI-P executives have said there are no hard feelings between the two, despite the ongoing electoral dispute.
“They have yet to meet [in person], but I believe they are spiritually connected to one another,” PDI-P deputy secretary-general Ahmad Basarah said on Tuesday. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
