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Will Jokowi play Gen. Andika as his wild card in 2024?
Based on several similarities in his political strategy with Indonesia’s second president Soeharto --in 2016, I wrote about his hidden side as a “little Soeharto”—I can surmise Jokowi has a far-reaching game plan for outgoing Army chief Andika. The President has cooked up for quite some time a deliberate scenario for the future of the general, and more importantly for Jokowi himself after he finishes his second term in 2024.
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President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (left) inaugurates Gen. Andika Perkasa as the Army chief of staff on Nov. 22, 2018. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
P
ublic opinion polls and prominent political commentators have rarely mentioned Gen. Andika Perkasa as a possible presidential candidate for the 2024 election. Also, it is a foregone conclusion that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will be a lame-duck president several months before the election and that members of his party coalition will desert him, unless he manages to convince the coalition, which controls 82 percent of the House of Representatives seats, to amend the Constitution to enable him to contest the election for a third term.
Based on several similarities in his political strategy with Indonesia’s second president Soeharto --in 2016, I wrote about his hidden side as a “little Soeharto”—I can surmise Jokowi has a far-reaching game plan for outgoing Army chief Andika. The President has cooked up for quite some time a deliberate scenario for the future of the general, and more importantly for Jokowi himself after he finishes his second term in 2024.
Andika could be Jokowi’s “wild card” in 2024, although the general is still much less popular than some of the names we are already familiar with. But we need to remember Andika’s popularity could skyrocket in no time as happened with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, given that the Army general is very good on social media. The 1 million subscribers on the Indonesian Army’s YouTube channel would certainly agree.
Indonesian voters like presidential candidates with a military background, because they are seen as being firm, and having strong leadership qualities. Voters also like good-looking generals, and Andika certainly meets that criteria. On top of that, Jokowi knows Andika personally, and his father-in-law AM Hendripriyono is one of his most loyal allies.
This is just a gentle reminder to you, never underestimate President Jokowi. In 2014, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri reminded Jokowi that he was just a party worker when the party nominated him as president in 2014. It took him less than two years to prove that his government could survive without the PDI-P, and in fact the party needed him more than he needed the party.
Do not be so naïve as to assume that Jokowi nominated Andika just to meet the demands from Megawati and other political elites. I believe that Jokowi will use Andika to weaken the position of other presidential aspirants, and in fact he may well see the four-star general becoming the leading candidate in the presidential race.
We have seen indications that the President could be a “kingmaker” in 2024, or even the king himself, especially if Megawati decides to grant him a strong mandate to become a “de facto” chief executive officer of the party as part of her transitional leadership transfer of power.
