November 5, 2024
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto met former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Surakarta, Central Java, on Sunday, in their first meeting since Prabowo was sworn in as president.
The meeting had been anticipated as Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is also Jokowi’s son, confirmed earlier in the day that Prabowo would be visiting Jokowi’s home. Before going to Surakarta, Prabowo had a series of official engagements in South Papua and Bali.
Prabowo’s entourage arrived at Jokowi’s residence in Sumber village at around 6:20 p.m., with Prabowo greeting the reporters. He was welcomed by Jokowi and wife Iriana.
Prabowo and Jokowi then headed to Wedangan Omah Semar restaurant to have dinner.
They talked while enjoying traditional Javanese dishes, including noodles, fried rice, fried banana, mendoan tempeh and corn fritters.
They shared laughter and stories, reflecting a comfortable rapport during the hour-long meeting.
“This meeting also reflects the warm relationship between the two national leaders who remain committed to building Indonesia,” the State Secretariat said in a written statement, as quoted by kompas.com.
Afterwards, Jokowi accompanied Prabowo to Adi Soemarmo Air Force Base in neighboring Boyolali regency for his return to Jakarta.
Prabowo emphasized that their discussions did not involve politics.
“There are no politics in this [meeting],” the President said firmly.
Before meeting Jokowi, Prabowo had dinner with Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil at a Nasi Padang restaurant in Jakarta on Thursday.
On Friday, Ridwan met Jokowi at his residence in Surakarta to discuss ways of managing Jakarta. Jokowi served as Jakarta governor from 2012-2014 after serving as Surakarta mayor from 2005-2012
Later this week, Prabowo is scheduled to go on his first overseas presidential trip on Friday, during which he will visit five countries. The trip is a significant diplomatic engagement for Prabowo as he establishes his administration’s international presence.
His itinerary begins in China from Nov. 8 to 10, where he will meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Following China, Prabowo will head to the United States for a meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss cooperation and welfare improvements. Next, he will travel to Peru to meet with President Dina Boluarte, where they will sign a visa exemption agreement and participate in the APEC Summit from Nov. 14 to 15, where he plans to address issues of poverty and hunger.
From Peru, Prabowo will travel to Brazil from Nov. 18 to 19 to attend the Executive Business Forum and the Group of 20 Summit, focusing on Indonesia’s initiatives against poverty.
His trip will conclude in the United Kingdom, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan and have an afternoon tea with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.