(JP/Suherdjoko)Disappointed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) after she was dumped out of the Central Java gubernatorial race, long-serving loyalist Rustriningsih has yet to decide on her political future.

'€œI have not thought about my future in the party. That'€™s why I am not running in the legislative election as it would mean I have to get in touch with the party again,'€ said Rustriningsih, who is Central Java deputy governor.

For the Central Java gubernatorial race on May 26, the PDI-P has nominated lawmaker Ganjar Pranowo, obstructing Rustriningsih'€™s path to the top job, which many have seen as somewhat peculiar, considering Rustriningsih'€™s popularity.

Her '€œwound'€ is worsened, she claims, because party chair Megawati Soekarnoputri has never explained to her either on the phone or face to face, why the party denied her its support, despite her seemingly excellent chance of winning the election.

'€œI don'€™t know why this is happening. What have I done?'€ Rustriningsih told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview at her official residence in Semarang, Central Java.

She thinks her involvement with the National Democrats (NasDem), which was still a social organization and not a political party at the time, might be the reason. But she was not alone. Other PDI-P politicians such as lawmaker Budiman Sujatmiko also joined NasDem.

'€œBut no sanctions were given to them,'€ she said.

Rustriningsih could just have run as an independent. It would not be difficult for her to collect the millions of signatures to meet with the independent candidacy requirements. '€œBut I did not do it. I waited for the party'€™s recommendation,'€ she said. For 27 years, Rustriningsih has been a member first of the PDI and then of the PDI-P since its inception.

She also denies the possibility that she did not get the party'€™s support for financial reasons by questioning Ganjar'€™s wealth. '€œI am sure there is another consideration. I wonder why Ibu Mega [Megawati Soekarnoputri] has not contacted me up to this very moment.'€

Three pairs of candidates will run for the gubernatorial race on May 26. They are Hadi Prabowo '€” Don Murdono, Bibit Waluyo (incumbent Central Java governor) '€” Sudijono Sastroatmodjo and Ganjar Pranowo '€” Heru Sudjatmoko. Commenting on the candidacy of Ganjar and Heru, Rustriningsih said that the pair did not have any selling point, as neither is well known to people in Central Java.

Rustriningsih made headlines in 2000 when she was elected Kebumen regent, the first female regent in the country. She was still single when she was sworn in on March 23, 2000.

Her political interest comes from her father Soekamto who was an activist of the Indonesian National Party (PNI) in Kebumen.

Rustriningsih graduated from the state-run Jendral Soedirman University'€™s school of social and political sciences in 1989, made her political debut with the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and joined PDI-P when it was established following internal rift in the PDI.

Before she was elected regent, Rustriningsih ran a newspaper agency and a catering business. From the agency alone she earned Rp 30 million (US$3,085) a month. '€œIt was a big sum of money back in 1997. Gold at that time was only Rp 2,400 per gram,'€ she said.

She said she drew her work ethic from the autobiographies of world famous figures that she has liked to read since she was in elementary school.

Her failure to get the support of PDI-P is not the challenges she has had to face in her political career. �When she tried to run for Kebumen regent in 2005 the PDI-P Kebumen branch chairman was kidnapped in an effort to stop her running. '€œI was forced to go to Jakarta on my own to get the party'€™s recommendation. Ibu Mega still trusted me.'€

Elected as Kebumen regent for the second time, she ran for deputy governor with Bibit Waluyo in 2008. Rustriningsih'€™s popularity gave the pair a landslide victory with 43.44 percent of the vote.

Some party members have proposed her as a vice president candidate for the 2014 election, but she said she has not considered such a possibility. At the moment, she wants to switch her attention to agriculture, a subject that directly touches the people. A brother of former PDI-P figure Kwik Kian Gie has offered her a plot of 48 hectares in Sukorejo, Kendal regency, for experimental purposes.

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