Isal Mawardi, Jakarta – Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother and financial backer, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, says that they will accept any and all support for his older brother’s presidential bid. He said that they will accept all forms of support even from the children and grandchildren of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
“We will accept support from anywhere except from the devil, except for the devil, all other support we’ll accept, Prabowo will accept it. Even from the children and grandchildren of (members of the) PKI, the PKI’s great-grandchildren, we will accept their support”, said Djojohadikusumo at the Bhayangkari building on Jl. Senjaya in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta Selatan, on Sunday January 27.
Djojohadikusumo does not have any problems with support from the children and grandchildren of PKI sympathisers as long as they do not spread communist ideas. He insists that Prabowo embraces the state ideology of Pancasila 100 percent.
“But what is clear is that Pak [Mr] Prabowo won’t go the way of the hammer-and-sickle. Prabowo is still Pancasila. Still the UUD 45 [the 1945 Constitution], still the NKRI [the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia]”, said Djojohadikusumo.
Djojohadikusumo also explained the reasons for his family cooperating with the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the recently banned Islamic fundamentalist group Hizbut Tharir Indonesia (HTI).
“[People] often ask us, ask me, why my family or Prabowo and I cooperate with the FPI and the HTI? I want to explain here that we didn’t ask for their help, they offered their support to us”, said Djojohadikusumo.
“If people want to support us, as politicians, as political creatures [lit political rats], we must accept support from anywhere”, said Djojohadikusumo. (rna/rna)
Notes
A report by Detik on January 28 – the day after Djojohadikusumo’s statement – quoted the deputy chairperson of Prabowo’s Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Sufmi Dasco Ahmad as saying that what Djojohadikusumo mean was that on election day they cannot choose who goes to the polling stations or who votes for them and Djojohadikusumo’s remarks shouldn’t be taken too literally.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Adik Prabowo: Kecuali Iblis, Anak Cucu PKI pun Kami Terima Dukungannya”.]
