Despite Democratic Endorsement, SBY Spares No Praise for Prabowo

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Carlos Paat, Jul 05, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono greets presidential hopeful Prabowo
Subianto at the State Palace on Dec. 24, 2013. (Rumgapres Photo/Abror Rizki)

Cikeas. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his coalition team on Friday evening at Yudhoyono’s house in Bogor.

“I received a letter from the Prabowo-Hatta campaign team saying they wanted to meet me,” Yudhoyono said at his residence in the Cikeas neighborhood. “It was directed to me as an individual, not as the president, so it was right and legal for me to meet them.”

The meeting was filmed by local TV stations, as President Yudhoyono said he wanted the encounter to be open to the public.

The ruling Democratic Party announced on Monday that it would endorse Prabowo, abandoning an earlier commitment to neutrality. But Yudhoyono did not express direct support, even during the meeting.

Yudhoyono offered broad advice, saying he hoped whoever won the election would keep the Democratic Party’s programs in place.

He advised Prabowo, if he were to become president, to let go of the past.

“If you lead, you will have to lead everyone, including those who didn’t vote for you,” Yudhoyono said. “A leader should not keep his anger and grudges.”

He told Prabowo to work patiently in the face of criticism, prioritize the people, let go up old disputes and uphold democracy and freedom of speech.

“It’s a message from the nation’s leader who has led this country for ten years,” Prabowo said upon leaving the residence, in the company of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Anis Matta, Gerindra Deputy Chairman Fadli Zon, and other advisors and coalition partners. “I think it’s useful for both of us. If God permits, we will not fail him.”

The Democratic Party said that Prabowo and Yudhoyono had a good working relationship.

“Prabowo often contacts SBY because he saw him as his senior back in the military academy,” former General Pramono Edhie Wibowo, a top Democratic official, said in Jakarta on Friday. “I always monitor each of their meeting. Prabowo wants to get input and advice from SBY.”

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