On Permanent Coalition, PKS President Raises August Protests
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) President Almuzzammil Yusuf has responded to the proposal for forming a permanent coalition to support President Prabowo Subianto, as put forward by Golkar.
Muzammil stated that PKS has not yet decided whether it will join the coalition. He affirmed only that PKS currently remains among the parties supporting the Prabowo Subianto government.
“At present we are focused on this coalition, striving for President Prabowo’s success,” he said after attending an iftar gathering hosted by NasDem Party in Jakarta on Thursday, 19 February 2026.
Muzammil said a significant decision of this nature cannot be made hastily. Within PKS, he explained, there is a shura council plenary meeting mechanism that must be followed before the party can take a position on any particular political proposition.
Nevertheless, Muzammil took the view that the idea of building a permanent coalition must be approached with caution. In his assessment, any coalition that is formed — including a permanent one — must be capable of uniting two things: the will of the people and the desires of the elite.
He warned that elite decisions that fail to accommodate the people’s will are dangerous to national unity. Muzammil then raised the protests that erupted in Jakarta last August, which ended in unrest, as an example of what happens when elite decisions are not aligned with the wishes of the public.
Muzammil also drew comparisons with uprisings that led to the fall of governments in Nepal and Bulgaria, suggesting that similar events could occur in Indonesia if the elite fail to uphold public aspirations.
“The August protests, the protests in Nepal, in Bulgaria — I think we should learn from them. That governments everywhere, nations everywhere in the world, must uphold public aspirations. So that there is a link and match between the desires of the elite and the desires of the public, if built together,” he said.
Besides speaking with NasDem Chairman Surya Paloh as host, Muzammil also met several other political party leaders at the event, including Gerindra Daily Chairman Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, PDI-P Central Executive Board Chairwoman Puan Maharani, PKB Deputy Chairman Jazilul Fawaid, and Golkar Treasurer Sari Yuliati.
The permanent coalition proposal was first put forward by Golkar at its First National Leadership Meeting on Saturday, 20 December 2025. The party, led by Bahlil Lahadalia, has since been opening channels of communication with political parties supporting the Prabowo Subianto government in order to realise the formation of the permanent coalition.