Jokowi and Prabowo Meet, Pledge to Maintain Stability in Govt

Jakarta Globe, Adelia Anjani Putri & Basten Gokkon, Oct 17, 2014

This file picture taken in Jakarta on July 20, 2014 shows Prabowo Subianto, left,
gesturing next to President-elect Joko Widodo, right, at the presidential palace in
Jakarta. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)

Jakarta. President-elect Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, meeting for the first time in about three months, said that they would work together to maintain stability in government.

“[Prabowo] said to me that, in the future, should there be anything to be criticized in our administration, I’m ready because stability in state management is very important,” said Joko, who went to Prabowo’s house in South Jakarta on Friday morning.

“There’s the doer, the controller, and then there’s the criticizer. I think that’s a good thing, and I’d like to thank Prabowo for that,” Joko said.

Prabowo said that he will ask his supporters to support Joko’s presidency. Prabowo’s Red-White coalition has the majority of the seats in legislature.

“I ask my party and supporters to support Joko and the government. We will criticize him should there be policies harming the people’s interest.”

He also asked his supporters to reconcile, despite political differences between his supporters and those of Joko’s.

“I will tell my supporters that political competition is a normal thing but in the end, all that we do is to achieve the nation’s prosperity and progress,” Prabowo said. “I hope the supporters don’t see the differences and competition between us as a reason to divide the people. We must stay united as one Indonesia at all times.”

“In this friendly meeting, I congratulate Joko who will be sworn in and inaugurated as the president on Oct. 20,” Prabowo said. “I believe that he is a patriot and deep down we have the same intention to guard Indonesia’s unity and its constitution.”

Regarding Joko’s inauguration on Monday, Prabowo said he would to try his best to attend the ceremony.

“I heard the invitation will come at 3 p.m. today. It’s the norm that if one is invited, he should fulfill it. I have to go abroad tonight or tomorrow morning, but if I’m done by Sunday night, I promise to do my best to attend the ceremony,” he said. “If I can’t make it, Pak Joko already knows the reason.”

Indonesia's losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, left, gestures as he

 stands beside Indonesia's President-elect Joko Widodo after a meeting in Jakarta on
Oct. 17, 2014. Prabowo said on Friday his party would support Widodo, but would not

hesitate to criticize any of his policies that they opposed. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

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Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center, gestures to presidential

 candidates Joko Widodo, left, and Prabowo Subianto, right, prior to a prayer at the

 presidential palace in Jakarta on July 20, 2014. Jakarta governor Joko Widodo is

expected to be declared the winner of Indonesia's disputed presidential election this

 week but his rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, is likely to mount a legal challenge

that will prolong the political deadlock. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)