Jakarta. Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan raised a key question on Saturday regarding the future direction of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) amid the majority of incumbent parties pledging support for president-elect Prabowo Subianto.

PKS is part of a three-member coalition that nominated Anies for president in the February 14 election. However, fellow members, the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), have indicated they will cross the aisle and support Prabowo, who was confirmed as the election winner earlier this week.

During a gathering with PKS leaders and clerics at the party’s headquarters in South Jakarta, Anies questioned whether PKS would follow the crowd in supporting Prabowo or assume an opposition role.

“We are at a crossroads between joining the government and staying outside. Others have made their decision, and let’s see which direction PKS will take,” Anies said.

He praised PKS as a party of principles since its founding 22 years ago and noted that the Muslim-based party has experience both as a government partner and an opposition.

PKS was in the pro-government coalition during the tenure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2004 to 2014 and became an opposition to the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration from 2014 to the present.

Anies highlighted that PKS has set an example in democracy by fully committing to its duties as a government partner and consistently defending its principles while serving as an opposition.

PKS Chairman Ahmad Syaiku said at the same event that the party has not yet decided its stance going forward.

“This decision is exclusively the prerogative of the Syuro Council,” Ahmad said, referring to the party’s advisory group, which comprises founders and clerics.

In the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, PKS supported Prabowo’s presidential bid, and analysts have predicted that it will eventually join the grand coalition for the future Prabowo government.

The post-election dynamics have also raised a similar question for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the governing party since Jokowi assumed the presidency in 2014.

The PDI-P and the president have been involved in a feud since the president’s son became a running mate for Prabowo last October. Many PDI-P executives have called for withdrawing support from Jokowi and Prabowo and urged an opposition role.

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