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Puan commences campaign to build political capital
The House of Representatives Speaker, PDI-P politician and daughter of party matron Megawati Soekarnoputri has embarked on her "political safari", with a visit to the NasDem chair the first stop on her itinerary.
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House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani (right), who also chairs the central board of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), speaks to her mother, PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri, during the party’s national working meeting on June 21, 2022 in Jakarta. (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
P
uan Maharani, “heir apparent” of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has commenced a campaign that aims to overcome her poor electability ratings and persuade would-be coalition partners to put their faith in her in a bid to run for president in 2024 as the only female candidate.
Acting on the instructions of her mother and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was the country’s fifth and only female president, Puan embarked on her “political safari” on Monday with a visit to Surya Paloh, chairman of the NasDem Party, also part of the coalition government.
The visit is among the tasks Megawati has given Puan to explore potential electoral alliances for the 2024 general election, which analysts see as a way to groom the House of Representatives Speaker for the presidency and boost her electability.
Camaraderie
In a joint press briefing after their meeting, Puan and Surya expressed their desire to continue the discussion between the two parties.
Surya reaffirmed the camaraderie between PDI-P and NasDem, which had both backed Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2014 and 2019, while Puan likened the visit to “an uncle welcoming his niece”.
Both parties refrained from making a formal commitment for 2024.
