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span class="caption">Tri Rismaharini. JP/Ricky Yudhistira
While speculation continues on the membership of president-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's Cabinet, Surabaya Mayor Tri 'Risma' Rismaharini has stated that she does not want to become a minister.

Risma said she had conveyed her position to chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Megawati Soekarnoputri, in Jakarta.

'I have met Bu Mega [and have told her that] I don't want to become a minister. I still love Surabaya,' she said in her office on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

She said she could not recall the exact date of the meeting, but added that it was around the time when her name became widely touted regarding the selection of Cabinet members.

'When I told Bu Mega about that, she said, 'I thought Mbak Risma would agree to become a minister.' [And I replied] 'No, I will not, Bu, No',' she said.

Risma, the first-ever woman mayor of Surabaya, was among a number of names that appeared in a recent public opinion poll held by Jokowi's volunteers on kabinetrakyat.org.

The website's poll placed Risma in the Coordinating People's Welfare Minister position with 2,035 votes.

Earlier, Bambang DH, a senior PDI-P politician in East Java, said that it would be hard for the PDI-P East Java chapter to support Risma in the next Surabaya mayoral election in 2015.

He said Risma was regarded as having neglected the chapter's instructions by failing to maintain good communications with the party's faction in the city council, the party's local faction and the deputy mayor.

Bambang had previously served as Risma's deputy mayor. He tendered his resignation in 2011 amid ongoing conflict between the city councilors and the mayor.

Bambang's statement has been rejected by PDI-P deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto. He said the opposition to Risma was merely a personal point of view and not the standpoint of the party. 'That [remark] is merely an individual opinion. The party has a different opinion,' he said last week as quoted by kompas.com.

Commenting on Bambang's statement, Risma said she believed she was still favored by Megawati,
although she declined to say whether she still hoped to run in the next mayoral election.

Hariyadi, a lecturer at the politics and social science faculty at Airlangga University in Surabaya, said it would be impossible for the PDI-P not to support Risma in the upcoming election.

He said Risma was regarded as Megawati's golden girl. Furthermore, she had also become an icon of successful city leadership for the party. 'Currently, there isn't a single candidate [for Surabaya mayor] who can surpass Risma's achievements,' he told The Jakarta Post over the phone late on Monday.

He said some members of the PDI-P in East Java might believe that Risma was not accommodating toward them, but the problem was settled after Megawati asked her to improve communications with the local branch.

In February, the central board of the PDI-P dispatched senior members of the party to Surabaya to deal with the behind-the-scenes power struggle, pitting Risma against members of the party's local branch.

Hariyadi said he was sure Risma would obey Megawati's request if the latter asked her to run for a second term as mayor because she had an attachment to the PDI-P leader.

Risma is the sole Indonesian finalist to have been nominated for the 2014 World Mayor Prize.

The World Mayor Prize, according to the City Mayors' website, is awarded to a mayor who has made an outstanding contribution to his or her community and has developed a vision for urban living and working that is relevant to towns and cities across the world.

Risma recently sparked public debate when she closed down the Dolly night-time entertainment center, an area often claimed to be the biggest red-light district in Southeast Asia.