Dasco Denies Rumours of Gerindra-NasDem Merger

Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the Daily Chairman of the Gerindra Party’s Central Executive Board, has dismissed rumours of a merger or amalgamation between his party and NasDem.

Dasco admitted to being puzzled by the information and questioned its source. He emphasised that there have been no discussions to date about merging NasDem with Gerindra.

“As stated by NasDem, there has never been any such conversation. We were also confused upon hearing it; where did this come from?” Dasco said at the parliamentary complex on Tuesday (21/4).

Dasco stated that his party has left the matter entirely to NasDem.

“But since NasDem has already explained it first, as they are the subject, we think that’s sufficient,” Dasco added.

Nevertheless, the discourse on merging the NasDem Party with Gerindra into a single party appears serious and opens the possibility of creating a new political bloc in Indonesia.

Several NasDem elites have not denied the rumour, although they reject the use of the term merger. NasDem’s Central Executive Board Chairman, Willy Aditya, clarified that NasDem General Chairman Surya Paloh only offered a political block.

“What Surya Paloh offered is a Political Block. A political bloc, not a merger,” Willy said at the parliamentary complex on Monday (13/4).

According to Willy, a political bloc is an effort to unite a vision and ideals into one breath. This cooperation is not carried out transactionally.

He noted that Indonesia has so far only known the term coalition. However, coalitions are only used in the candidate nomination process and not in government because Indonesia adheres to a presidential system.

Nevertheless, Willy has not explained the details of his party’s merger plans with Gerindra.

Meanwhile, NasDem’s Deputy General Chairman, Saan Mustopa, said that to date there has been no serious discussion on the merger or amalgamation discourse between his party and Gerindra. Saan did not deny the rumour. However, he referred to it by another term, namely fusion.

“We haven’t even… there’s nothing specific regarding that fusion yet. And I’m sure it’s the same elsewhere. Because we’re currently still focused on consolidating our internals,” Saan said at the parliamentary complex.