Makassar. The National Awakening Party (PKB) held a press conference on Saturday night to announce its support for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and its presidential hopeful, Joko Widodo.
The PKB will join the National Democratic Party in Joko’s PDI-P-led coalition.
The support was declared in a press conference in Aryaduta hotel in Makassar, South Sulawesi on Saturday night. PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar was represented by the party’s central executive board (DPP) chief Marwan Jafar.
Joko attended the declaration with Ahmad Basarah and Eriko Sotarduga, both deputy secretaries in the PDI-P, and Nasdem’s DPP chief, Akbar Faisal.
“The decision is for the benefit of the country and for the people’s welfare, PKB chief Muhaimin Iskandar said, as quoted by Indonesian news portal Tribunnews.
“The PKB’s decision is based purely on our willingness to create a strong, effective and efficient government,” Muhaimin said.
Media mogul Surya Paloh announced in April that his Nasdem party would join with Joko and the PDI-P for the Jul 9 vote.
“Many questioned [whether I could achieve] coalition without handing out seats,” Joko said. “Now we’ve proven there’s a new way of forming cooperation without carving up the cake or handing out minister positions.”
The PDI-P won 18.95 percent in the election, while the PKB took 9.04 percent and Nasdem 6.72 percent.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/joko-praises-pkb-coalition-support/
