Jakarta – President-elect Prabowo Subianto (2024-2029) shared a light-hearted moment with Surya Paloh, Chairman of the National Democrat Party (NasDem), during the closing of the 3rd NasDem Congress at JCC Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, August 27.
Prabowo humorously referred to Surya as “Mas Brewok” (Mr. Beard), a nickname that was met with enthusiastic applause from the party members. He even mentioned that he once aspired to grow a distinctive beard like Surya Paloh’s.
On this occasion, Prabowo congratulated Surya Paloh on his re-election as NasDem’s chairman.
“Thank you for the honor of being invited here. I would like to congratulate my brother, Surya Paloh, who might be better known as Bung Brewok,” Prabowo said.
“I’ve always wanted to have a beard like Mr. Surya Paloh, but I just can’t. So, when I grew a mustache, people started calling me ‘Fu Manchu’ (a fictional character). My respected Mas Brewok, is that okay?” Prabowo quipped, laughing.
In front of Surya and hundreds of NasDem members, Prabowo reminisced about their political journey together, noting that they once belonged to the same party.
“Mr. Surya and I have come a long way. We are both alumni of the same alma mater, the alma mater of the banyan tree (referring to their past affiliation with Golkar Party),” he said.
However, Prabowo pointed out that their roles have changed since those days. While he was once under Surya’s leadership, now “Mas Brewok” has become one of Prabowo’s supporters.
“So, the wheel of life turns; sometimes we are down, sometimes we are up. No problem—we just need to understand our roles,” Prabowo joked.
“I used to be a rival of Mr. Jokowi, but Mas Brewok here is smart; he knows who’s strong,” he added.
Prabowo went on to say that he has now won the 2024 presidential election and received the mandate to lead the country for the next five years. He admitted that this victory was partly due to his decision to join President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) administration.
“After being repeatedly defeated by Mr. Jokowi, I eventually thought, maybe if I join him, I’ll learn a thing or two,” Prabowo said.
“And so it happened—he invited me to join, and now, alhamdulillah, I’ve won. Sorry, folks!” he concluded, eliciting cheers from the NasDem members. (RR)
