1Berita English – Minister of Trade and Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Zulkifli Hasan, conveyed the public’s response to the Prabowo Subianto–Gibran Rakabuming pair to President Jokowi.

Zulhas, as he is often called, shared this during a lunch with Jokowi at a restaurant in Bogor, West Java, on Sunday (1/7).

“Well, I am part of the coalition, reporting, right? I went to Eastern Indonesia, to Sumatra, Central Java, East Java, and I said, ‘Sir, we received a very warm welcome.’ The reception for Prabowo-Gibran is exceptionally warm,” Zulhas expressed, as quoted from Antara, on Sunday (1/7).

He emphasized that the entire campaign team for Prabowo-Gibran needs to continue what has been started. According to Zulhas, the message about the continuity of President Jokowi’s programs should be consistently conveyed to the public during the remaining campaign period.

“In my opinion, in the remaining time, if everyone works hard, greets the people, conveys our thoughts, and continues what Jokowi has been doing,” said Zulhas.

He stated that the campaign team for Prabowo-Gibran needs to convey the message of the continuity of the current government’s programs because many policies are praiseworthy and beneficial to the people.

“President Jokowi is a true innovator, building the IKN (National Capital Integrated Coastal Development), constructing toll roads connecting Java and Sumatra. If you go to Labuan Bajo, there are many five-star facilities there; the head of state goes there, so it has progressed significantly,” he explained.

In addition, several flagship programs directly related to the public also need to be consistently communicated during the campaign.

He is confident that the majority of the Indonesian people want the current programs to be continued by Prabowo-Gibran.

“We want to continue to convey this to the public, including matters that concern many people, such as PKH (Family Hope Program), social assistance, direct assistance for El Nino, which will also be continued, plus the perpetual fund for Islamic boarding schools (pesantren),” said Zulhas.

Meanwhile, President Joko Widodo, alias Jokowi, did not say much when asked by the media after lunch with Zulhas.

He only mentioned that he was invited by Zulhas to the lunch.

“Invited by Mr. Zul for lunch,” he said.

Before Zulhas, Jokowi also met with Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto.

Both Zulhas, Prabowo, and Airlangga are leaders of political parties supporting the candidate pair number 2 in the 2024 Presidential Election.

The candidate pair number 2 referred to is Prabowo-Gibran. Gibran is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo.