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Jokowi may prefer Ganjar, but will his supporters follow suit?
Questions have been raised about whether the potential candidates seeking to succeed Jokowi will be able to harness the power of volunteerism that helped bring him to the State Palace.
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Power of the masses: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo greets his supporters at a rally at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 26. During the event, thousands of volunteers from various groups renewed their loyalty to Jokowi. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
T
he meteoric rise of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has long been, at least partly, ascribed to his ability to mobilize his army of volunteers, who played a critical role in his digital campaigns.
When Jokowi gathered thousands of his supporters in the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Central Jakarta, last year, political bigwigs were visibly uncomfortable with the political muscle-flexing of the former Jakarta governor. It was a testament to the growing clout of volunteer groups, if not populist politics, in post-authoritarian Indonesia.
Now that the 2024 presidential election is drawing close, questions have been raised about whether potential candidates seeking to succeed Jokowi will be able to harness the power of volunteerism that helped bring him to the State Palace.
Shifting alliances
While President Jokowi may have implied his preference for Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, the frontrunner in the upcoming presidential race according to various surveys, the President’s reluctance to explicitly endorse a single candidate left his supporters scrambling to choose who they think is the “best” candidate to replace him.
Most of them may have chosen Ganjar, the “white-haired” leader that Jokowi may have implied to be the hard-working leader to vote for; but others turned to his former rival, Prabowo Subianto, and even his current archrival, Anies Baswedan.
