(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian lawmakers reelected Puan Maharani, the daughter of former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, as speaker of parliament for the next term of five years.
Maharani, 51, was nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest single party that won legislative elections in February with nearly a fifth of parliamentary seats. She was inaugurated as the head of the lower house of parliament at a plenary session on Tuesday evening.
Her reelection came as President-elect Prabowo Subianto, backed by parties with majority control of parliament, is set to meet with Megawati for a possible coalition with PDI-P.
Prabowo been reaching out across party lines to secure lawmakers’ approval for key campaign promises such as his free lunch program and policies to help the country achieve 8% economic growth.
PDI-P had initially insisted on staying outside the government as an opposition after their candidate lost to Prabowo in February elections. Maharani said that a meeting between Megawati and Prabowo would take place soon, a move seen as an effort to consolidate the two sides after months of negotiations. Maharani has been leading those talks.
The meeting with Megawati will take place “hopefully before the inauguration” on Oct. 20, Prabowo told reporters on Tuesday.
As many as 580 new lawmakers were sworn in on Tuesday - the largest number in 15 years.
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