Gerindra confirms Prabowo and Gibran's relationship is complementary

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Gerindra Party has affirmed that the relationship between President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka is one of mutual complementarity, and has called on various parties not to dramatise the Prabowo-Gibran relationship.

Gerindra Central Executive Board Chairman Bambang Haryadi made the remarks in response to questions over Gibran’s seating position, which was not beside the President during a recent cabinet session. According to him, this was merely a technical matter and relations between the two remain perfectly fine.

“President Prabowo and Vice President Gibran complement each other in their work. The two are always united,” Bambang said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He said Prabowo has consistently given Gibran room to work. He cited Gibran’s frequent visits to the regions to gather public aspirations and check on government programmes on behalf of the President.

“That is a tangible form of unity between the President and the Vice President,” he said.

He therefore urged the public not to speculate excessively about the Prabowo-Gibran relationship, stressing that the two complement one another in running the government.

“There are parties who want to divide them, using provocative framing narratives. But we are confident the public will not be swayed,” said the Gerindra faction secretary in the House of Representatives.

Prasetyo said the seating arrangement was related to President Prabowo’s needs when delivering presentations supported by extensive data and the use of a teleprompter during the session.

“Because he (President Prabowo) wanted to explain a great many programmes, if you paid attention, those many programmes had to be accompanied or supported by data. That is why, at the time, he used a teleprompter. That answers the question about the layout,” Prasetyo said at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (21 July).

“If you look carefully, the President was positioned in the centre. As for the question about the Vice President’s position, in our view it was purely a matter of technical necessity,” he added.