Gaspol Today: NasDem Shaken Up, Does Surya Paloh Need Prabowo's Help?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — NasDem Party’s Deputy Chairman, Willy Aditya, has responded to rumours of internal unrest in the party, prompting General Chairman Surya Paloh to offer to build a political bloc with President Prabowo Subianto.

“If we fiddle with the matter and then it’s taken as a conclusion (seeking help), it could be,” said Willy in the Gaspol Podcast aired on Kompas.com’s YouTube channel on Monday (20/4/2026).

This internal unrest is reportedly triggered by the departure of Ahmad Ali, who now serves as the Daily Chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). Ali is rumoured not only to have lured Rusdi Masse but also to have taken along several other NasDem elites.

However, Willy considers such views overly simplistic. He emphasised that internal dynamics are a common occurrence in every political party.

“But let me ask, is there any party in this republic that has no problems? Is the party that’s supposedly poaching NasDem also free of internal issues?” said Willy.

Furthermore, the Chairman of Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives also refuted the notion that the closeness between NasDem and Gerindra would lead to a merger of the two parties.

According to him, the communication between the two former Golkar bigwigs is more about an understanding between two veteran figures who have a personal closeness.

“We ask, are we still in the same dream or not, we must check that, why, we have an inflation of politicians, we have a deficit of statesmen,” said Willy.

“That means all political processes do not have to be substituted with cattle trading. This is just a chat between friends and colleagues, yet it’s already suspected,” he added.