Responding to the statement that he is no longer a member of PDI-P, Mr Gibran, who is now the mayor of Surakarta, replied briefly: “That’s okay, that’s fine.”
Mr Widodo also gave a short answer when asked the same question. “Yes, thank you,” he told reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
PDI-P has been the party backing Jokowi’s political career since his days as mayor of Surakarta for two terms, from July 2005 until October 2012. He was later elected governor of Jakarta in 2012 and became president in 2014, all with the support of the PDI-P.
The PDI-P will still be the largest party in parliament after winning the most votes, 16 per cent, in the February election. In May PDI-P will hold a national working meeting to decide whether it will be in opposition or join Mr Prabowo’s governing coalition.
Mr Prabowo’s current coalition comprises 48 per cent of seats and senior aides have said he aims to expand that to command a majority. Several parties, such as Nasdem, which backed Mr Anies, have already held talks with Prabowo.
On Monday the Constitutional Court rejected the election dispute lawsuit by Mr Anies and Mr Ganjar seeking re-election or disqualification because they said the Feb 14 election was marred by systemic fraud. They also argued that government institutions, regional leaders and state-sponsored social assistance programs had been misused by president Jokowi to sway the votes in favour of Mr Prabowo.
The judges ruled there was no evidence to support those allegations.
Following the Constitutional Court’s decision, on Wednesday, the General Election Commission (KPU) officially announced Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran as the elected president and vice president for the period 2024 to 2029.
After the top court’s decision, which cannot be appealed against, Jokowi on Tuesday called on all parties to reunite in building the country. He was also quoted by Indonesian digital media company Detik.com as saying that he would now be preparing the transition process to hand over the presidency to Mr Prabowo.
“The government supports the transition process from the current government to the new government. We will prepare it,” Jokowi said.
Jokowi has yet to discuss his political plans after he is no longer president but according to several sources quoted by Reuters, he wants to take over the second-biggest party, Golkar, a move that could see him retain sizeable influence and potentially act to counterbalance Mr Prabowo’s leadership when he takes office in October.
Previously, during the presidential campaign Mr Prabowo himself had spoken about the possibility of his new government continuing with Jokowi’s ongoing programmes, including the development of Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital city in Kalimantan.
