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Jokowi for 2024? Many hurdles to overcome
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President Joko (JP/Seto Wardhana)
D
espite the constitutional term limit, rumors of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo running again in 2024 have been lurking under the surface. The issue has become the talk of the town again this month after the launch of a “national committee” openly campaigning for his reelection.
Many volunteers who helped Jokowi win his second election in 2019 have formed the National Secretariat for Jokowi-Prabowo, not only supporting the idea of Jokowi running for a third term in office but even going so far as to pair him with his Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, whom he defeated in both the 2014 and 2019 races, as a running mate. The President has distanced himself from this group but has not exactly opposed it either.
The idea of Jokowi serving a third term is now being taken more seriously in political corridors. But this still looks more like the volunteers, on behalf of whomever they are working for, are testing the waters to see how much public support there would be if Jokowi decided to go for it.
At the moment, there are just too many hurdles to overcome for this to happen. For one, the constitution bars him from serving from more than two terms. To amend the Constitution, he would have to go through the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). The term limit was written into the Constitution after the end of three decades of Soeharto’s rule.
Secondly, he will need to have the support of enough of the political parties controlling the MPR. With most parties having their own 2024 agenda and some of their leaders harboring presidential ambitions, it is hard to see Jokowi winning enough votes in the assembly.
The six parties in his coalition government may control over 75 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives to support his legislative program, but the 2024 election is a completely different ball game, and he may find little support if he decides to run.
Third, time may not be on his side to get the Constitution amended to allow him to run in 2024. While the big parties in his coalition support the idea of amending the Constitution, they have their own objectives, which are not necessarily to remove or extend the presidential term limit.
