Halal Bihalal of the President and Didit Hediprasetyo who became the Envoy for Silaturahmi

The gates of the Merdeka Palace are open. These gates are specifically for the President, Vice President, as well as former Presidents and Vice Presidents. The Cordon troops are lined up, saluting. Welcoming music can also be heard marching.

A black car with a black license plate was followed by another black car with a red license plate from the TNI Headquarters as it passed by. Beside the terrace of the Merdeka Palace, the car stopped, and Jusuf Kalla, the 10th and 12th Vice President of Indonesia, along with Mrs. Mufidah and their son Solihin Kalla, were seen.

Vice President Gibran Rakabumingraka, who arrived shortly before, immediately greeted him at the top of the stairs. He shook hands while bowing.

Jusuf Kalla, better known as JK, paid a courtesy visit to President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday (31/3/2025). This was done after performing the Eid al-Fitr prayer.

About half an hour later, the sound of welcoming music was heard again. This time, the sixth President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, arrived at the Jakarta Presidential Palace Complex.

SBY, as he is more commonly known, attended alongside his eldest son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who also serves as the Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, as well as his youngest son, Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, a member of the House of Representatives. Both were accompanied by their wives and children. Everyone wore electric blue Eid costumes.

The gathering was also conducted by President Prabowo with the fifth President of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri. Although he did not attend in person, her only son, Ragowo Hediprasetyo, better known as Didit Hediprasetyo, was seen visiting Megawati's residence on Jalan Teuku Umar, Jakarta, accompanied by the Secretary-General of the Gerindra Party, Ahmad Muzani.

Megawati's daughter, Puan Maharani, who currently serves as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, promptly uploaded photos of the meeting. Puan was seen wearing a blue embroidered kebaya, her daughter Diah Pikatan Orissa Putri Hapsari, also known as Pinka Haprani, donned a green kebaya, while Megawati wore a red kebaya with floral embroidery. Meanwhile, Didit was dressed in a light green baju koko and a black peci.

"Silaturahmi," wrote Puan on her social media while thanking Didit, Muzani, and DPD Chairman Sutan Najamudin for their presence.

Ahmad Muzani also wrote on his social media that this moment of silaturahmi and halal bihalal was full of togetherness, warmth, and blessings. "Hopefully this silaturahmi will bring blessings and goodness to all of us, and can strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between us all. Happy Eid al-Fitr, please forgive me for my physical and spiritual sins," he wrote.

This meeting, according to the Chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Ahmad Basarah, shows the personal relationship between Megawati and Prabowo which has been very good for a long time. "That is proven by Pak Didit's visit today to her (Megawati's) residence. And I think the visit between Ibu Mega and Pak Prabowo is just a matter of time," he said, Monday afternoon.

Not only that, Didit is said to be on good terms with Pinka Haprani. Basarah also hopes that Didit's visit will further strengthen the relationship between Prabowo and Didit.

May this gathering bring blessings and goodness to all of us, and can strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between us all. Happy Eid al-Fitr, please forgive me physically and mentally.

Muzani himself said that he had visited the homes of Vice President JK, the sixth Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Try Sutrisno, and the sixth President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to him, there was no political discussion during the Lebaran visit. All focused on the atmosphere of fitri and forgiveness. Prabowo, he said, did not leave any message.

In the afternoon, Didit was seen visiting the residence of the seventh President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo in Sumber, Surakarta. At this moment, he had changed into a blue batik outfit with a red floral pattern.

During the previous President's leadership, Eid al-Fitr was also a moment of friendship. President Jokowi, for example, never missed visiting the residence of Megawati, the General Chairperson of PDI-P after holding an open house at the Palace.

However, after Jokowi determined his political stance to support Prabowo who was paired with his eldest son, Gibran, in the 2019 Presidential Election, the Jokowi-Megawati meeting no longer happened. At that time Megawati and PDI-P supported the presidential candidate pair Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD,

In addition, the third President of the Republic of Indonesia, BJ Habibie, became a leader who utilized the momentum of this halal bihalal to strengthen friendship and cooperation. President Habibie did not hold an open house because his leadership took place during a time of crisis. Therefore, Habibie only socialized with employees of the State Secretariat and journalists in addition to visiting several figures.

The figures include General (ret.) Abdul Haris Nasution on Jalan Teuku Umar Number 43 Jakarta, former President Director of Pertamina Major General (ret.) Ibnu Sutowo, former Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security General TNI (ret.) Suroro, former Vice President Umar Wirahadikusumah, and his relative Colonel (CPM-ret.) Roesli. Habibie also visited his mother-in-law, S Moh Besari in Bandung, West Java.

Referring to the Kompas archive, the halal bihalal tradition is said to have become popular since Soekarno held a national halal bihalal. At that time, he held the event to establish reconciliation between elites who were experiencing differences in political views during the parliamentary cabinet. Coincidentally, at that time a rebellion was emerging and there was talk of the Dutch returning to their homeland even though Indonesia had only been established for three years (Kompas, 16/1/2021).

All of these conditions made Soekarno anxious. He was worried that national disintegration would occur. Therefore, he invited KH Abdul Wahab Hasbullah, Rais Aam Syuriah of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), to have a discussion. The theme of the discussion was the increasing tension of feuds between groups and political movements at that time.

As written in the book "Mbah Wahab Hasbullah, Kiai Nasionalis Membangun NU", written by KH Saifuddin Zuhri, Mbah Wahab then proposed that a national gathering be held to bring together the elites. The momentum happened to be close to the Eid al-Fitr celebration.

However, the proposal was not immediately accepted. Soekarno objected to using the diction silaturahmi. According to him, the term was too general. Then, Wahab offered another word, namely "Halalbihalal".

To Soekarno, Wahab explained, the reason behind the reluctance of political elites to meet was because they blamed each other. Blaming each other is a sin and is therefore forbidden. Therefore, they must sit together, forgive each other, and make it permissible.

However, to maintain this thawing relationship, a commitment is needed to maintain democracy and organize a clean government so that this process will gain public legitimacy.

Soekarno accepted the explanation and agreed to it. As a result, elites from various political groups and streams met in one common room. They sat at one table in the halalbihalal frame on Lebaran 1948.

Since then, halalbihalal has continued to take place in every Eid celebration. Unfortunately, the domestic political situation remained heated until finally Soekarno issued the Presidential Decree of July 5, 1959 and marked the beginning of the Guided Democracy era.

The term halal bihalal has appeared in the Soewara Moehammadijah magazine, edition number 5 of 1924. The Director of Suara Muhammadiyah, Deni As'ary, once mentioned that the term chalal bichalal contains an encouragement for Muslims to visit each other and forgive each other.

In 1926, SM magazine published an advertorial inviting the public to place an advertisement for Eid al-Fitr greetings. This time, the term alal bahalal was used.

Political Science Lecturer at Airlangga University Surabaya Airlangga Pribadi assessed that the presence of figures in halal bihalal can indeed lighten the atmosphere, if there is tension. "However, to maintain this thawed relationship, a commitment is needed to maintain democracy and organize a clean government so that this process will receive public legitimacy," he said, Tuesday (1/4/2025).