Anies Visits SBY's Open House Uninvited, Sahroni: Just a Social Call, Presidential Race is Still Far Off

JAKARTA - NasDem Party General Treasurer Ahmad Sahroni views Anies Baswedan’s visit to the residence of Indonesia’s sixth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as merely a social call for Idul Fitri, without any specific agenda.

According to Sahroni, Anies’s presence at the open house event is a normal occurrence as a form of halalbihalal with an elder figure.

He also dismissed the notion that the visit serves as a platform for political consolidation with the Democratic Party. According to him, the Idul Fitri momentum is not used to discuss political agendas.

Anies’s visit to SBY’s residence in Cikeas, West Java, previously drew attention because there was no invitation.

Relations between Anies and the Democrats are known to have cooled after Democratic Party General Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) failed to become Anies’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

At that time, AHY, who had been widely rumoured to be Anies’s running mate, was suddenly replaced by PKB General Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin). SBY was disappointed with Anies’s decision.

The Democrats then exited Anies’s coalition and subsequently supported the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka ticket. NasDem was one of the supporters of Anies in the 2024 presidential election.