Jakarta. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle or PDI-P recently said that its matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri “never forbid” her cadres to join the ongoing military retreat for the freshly sworn in regional leaders.

The Prabowo government has gathered the newly minted regional elected leaders, including governors, for a week-long retreat at the Magelang Military Academy. This bootcamp aims to brief the leaders to make sure that they are in tune with the central government.

Megawati, however, had instructed her cadres to postpone their trip to the bootcamp. Despite the party leader’s orders, some PDI-P cadres went to the retreat, including Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung. Her instruction led to speculations that Prabowo and Megawati are not exactly on good terms. PDI-P’s spokesman Ahmad Basarah told reporters on Tuesday evening that the two party leaders were “getting along just fine to this day”.

“And I would like to emphasize that Mrs. Megawati never barred PDI-P cadres, namely those who got elected as regional leaders, from the retreat,” Basarah said in Jakarta.

According to Basarah, Megawati has told those who had not headed to Magelang to focus on their job as governors or regents. They can, however, join the second round of retreat. Megawati has also instructed her cadres who are already in Magelang to follow the retreat until it ends this Friday. Their deputy leaders may also follow them later this week.

“PDI-P’s stance on the retreat reflects our position … that PDI-P feels like it does not have any issue with President Prabowo Subianto,” Basarah said.

PDI-P politician and Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung had already been in the Magelang bootcamp since Monday, a few days after the retreat began. Pramono said that he had spoken with Megawati regarding his attendance, even saying that he had already made some thorough calculations before making the decision. His deputy governor Rano Karno, who is also a PDI-P member, will join the retreat on Thursday. The metropolis Jakarta is Indonesia’s capital, making its gubernatorial leadership the most sought-after in the regional election. 

Prabowo’s party Gerindra alongside a large coalition of parties had nominated Former West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil as their candidate in the recent Jakarta gubernatorial election. PDI-P, too, was also not part of Prabowo’s alliance in the February 2024 presidential race that saw the latter securing a landslide victory. The party had picked Ex-Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo to run for president.