Jakarta. A  National Mandate Party (PAN) executive recently said that the party deserves a giant ministerial representation under the upcoming Prabowo Subianto government, citing their proven loyalty as the reason. 

The party’s secretary-general Hendro Purnomo, better known as Eko Patrio, said that PAN was the only party who had been standing by Prabowo for 15 years. As Prabowo’s inauguration nears, PAN is hoping that they get their share in the future cabinet. 

“We want as many as [PAN] ministers as possible. We have stood by his [Prabowo’s] side for 15 years, and made our contributions for the past three periods,” Eko Patrio said in Jakarta on Thursday. 

“So if you asked me [about our hopes], we want a large cabinet representation as the fruit of our hard work,” Eko Patrio said. 

Even so, Eko Patrio admitted that it was up to Prabowo as the president-elect to decide who deserves to be his ministers. Eko said that Prabowo had asked PAN’s chairman Zulkifli Hasan to discuss the cabinet makeup, although the talks were under casual settings. 

Eko Patrio’s statement also came amid rumors of PAN getting five ministerial posts. The party has also had internal discussions on who they would propose as potential ministers with Zulkifli Hasan being the top priority candidate.

“We will certainly prioritize Zulhas [Zulkifli Hasan]. … If we do get to have the cabinet representation, we will certainly pick people who are experts in their fields because what the upcoming government needs is a cabinet that upholds profesionalism,” Eko Patrio said. 

Zulkifli currently serves as the trade minister. 

PAN is part of the giant Advanced Indonesia Coalition (KIM) which endorsed Prabowo in the February presidential election. 

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