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New responsibilities ‘affirm’ Puan as heir to PDI-P throne
It would only be logical for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to start “grooming” Puan Maharani to succeed her mother, an expert has said.
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House of Representative Speaker Puan Maharani (right) appears on an episode of 'Close The Door', a popular podcast series run by Indonesian entertainer Deddy Corbuzier (second left), in this file photo from July. (Close The Door/Courtesy of Deddy Corbuzier)
P
uan Maharani has been given extra responsibilities in her role as an executive of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), all but guaranteeing that she is poised to takeover of the ruling party from her mother and longtime chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri.
During her recent visit to Cirebon regency in West Java, Puan said she had been tasked by Megawati to travel across the country to consolidate power in the region and unite the party ahead of the 2024 general election.
“I have been going around Central Java, East Java and now West Java, [then I will visit] Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua and so on,” she said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com. “As chair of the party’s central executive board and House Speaker, I have been assigned to go around to meet with members of the big PDI-P family.”
But aside from the obvious political reasons, Puan went on to say that her mother’s condition had made it practically impossible to travel extensively. The former president is now 75 years old, having tightly held onto the party’s top job since the fall of the New Order in 1998.
Over the past few weeks, Puan has appeared to embrace the political limelight, at one point posting on Tik-Tok footage of herself at a meeting between her mother and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo – a decision experts believe was done to boost her popularity as the potential candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
The party elite has been tipped to nominate the House speaker ahead of Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, a party cadre who has a much better electability score.
Read also: Ganjar reaping benefits of legwork, online presence
