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In daddy's footsteps?: PDI-P looks to Gibran for Jakarta governorship, but experts unconvinced
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Gibran Rakabuming Raka (center), the eldest son of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, speaks to his followers as he seeks support for his bid to run in the Surakarta mayoral election on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) ticket at the party’s Central Java office in Semarang in 2020. (JP/Suherdjoko)
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urakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, looks increasingly likely to get the nod from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to run for Jakarta governor in 2024 – although analysts say the young politician would struggle to best other likely candidates.
Senior PDI-P politician Eriko Sotarduga said internal support had been growing for Gibran, who entered politics a few years ago, or Social Affairs Minister Tri “Risma” Rismaharini to receive the party’s nomination for the governorship.
“The most promising [hopefuls] are indeed Gibran and Risma. In terms of the deputy governor, the party also has Jakarta Legislative Council Speaker Prasetyo [Edi Marsudi] and PDI-P Jakarta office head Adi Wijaya,” Eriko said on Saturday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Of the potential candidates, Gibran had the most support, noted Eriko, who represents an electoral district of Jakarta in the House of Representatives and is the party's youth and sports division head.
However, any nomination would require the approval of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has the final say.
“I have conveyed [these potential candidates] to Megawati, and she is aware that support from the party members at the grassroots level is most prominent for Gibran,” Eriko said, claiming that the support for Gibran was based solely on his performance as Surakarta mayor and was not related to the fact the he was Jokowi’s son.
Eriko further claimed that Gibran had not yet shown any interest in running for the Jakarta governorship and was focused on his work in Surakarta.
