Since leaving office in October last year, there have been growing signs that Jokowi’s influence is waning amid speculations about the potential rift between him and Prabowo, whom he backed in last year’s election. Prabowo won the election with Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka as his vice president.
In a surprising twist late last month, Prabowo granted clemency to two political opponents, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto and former trade minister Thomas Lembong, who had been convicted in corruption cases that they called politically motivated and driven by their criticism of Jokowi.
The pardons came just one day before the PDI-P, the only major party outside the ruling coalition and the former party of Jokowi, held its congress in Bali, where chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri declared the party a “counterbalance” and instructed party members to support “all government policies which benefit the people”.
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Analysts said Prabowo’s unexpected decision to grant amnesty to political rivals signaled an effort to assert greater independence from Jokowi, whose influence was seen as notable during the early stages of Prabowo’s presidency.
“By involving more senior figures, in this case Megawati, in the equation, Prabowo can gradually distance himself from Jokowi without directly confronting him,” analyst Arif Susanto from Exposit Strategic said.
