"This (the support) did not come suddenly. They have voiced their support since May 20 after hearing the visions and mission of Prabowo and Hatta," Nurhayati Assegaf, the chairwoman if the ruling party faction at the House of Representative, said here on Monday.
A number of 115 legislator have confirmed to attend a "declaration of support", Nurhayati said.
"Democrat faction has 148 members and 115 have confirmed, but other that could not attend do not mean that they do not agree with the declaration," she said.
The declaration of support is on individual accord and initiative, she said, adding they do not represent the party.
The reasons for the support for Prabowo-Hatta, was that Prabowo Subianto is the right statesman to replace President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is the chairman of the ruling party.
Yudhoyono could no longer contest the presidency in the election on July 9 after his two terms
Prabowo-Hatta would be able to continue the pro-people economic program of present government to bring prosperity to the nation, Nurhayati said.
The ruling party declared neutrality in the election but allowed its members to voted for either contenders in the presidential election.
The majority of the party leaders have expressed support for Prabowo, who is the founder of Gerindra which has support for a number of other parties in a coalition.
Some of the leaders of the ruling party such as minister for state companies Dahlan Iskan and governors also gave their support for rival presidential hopeful Joko Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla.
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
