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Sandiaga’s 'party-hopping' could cost him 2024 ticket
Newly annointed PPP politician Sandiaga Uno is a strong candidate to run for the vice presidency next year, but his easy links to all three 2024 presidential hopefuls could become a liability, experts say.
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Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno speaks at a press conference on Nov. 29, 2021. (Courtesy of Kemenparekraf/-)
Sandiaga Uno appeared to improve his chances of a vice-presidential candidate slot in the 2024 election after officially joining the United Development Party (PPP) this week, although questions remain as to whether his party-hopping might still cost him the ticket.
Sandi, a former running mate to Prabowo Subianto in the previous presidential race, officially joined one of the country’s oldest Islamic parties on Wednesday, after a symbolic handover of his membership card and a jacket in the party’s formal green color.
“After seven months of intense silaturahmi [meetings] and two months of exploration, Alhamdulillah [Thank God] I’ve been accepted into the big family of the PPP,” Sandi said.
His arrival at the PPP came just two months after bidding farewell to the Gerindra Party, which is led by his political patron Defense Minister Prabowo and which had been his political vehicle to win the Jakarta deputy-governor’s post in 2017 and compete as Prabowo’s running mate just two years later.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur, often regarded as having a somewhat goofy and unserious public persona, is nevertheless a seasoned player in the business world, having cofounded Saratoga Investama Sedaya in 1997 and turning it into one of the largest diversified conglomerates in the country. He served on the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) as vice chairman for small and medium enterprises in 2009 before deciding to enter politics.
He joined Gerindra as an advisor in 2015, but his lack of political experience did not hold him back from securing support to run alongside former education minister Anies Baswedan in the highly divisive 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. Anies and Sandi won against incumbent governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in the run-off.
Less than a year into his term as deputy governor, Sandi was declared Prabowo’s pick for vice-presidential candidate in a bid to unseat President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the 2019 election, which they lost by a double-digit margin. Both Prabowo and Sandi later joined Jokowi’s administration, with Sandi serving as tourism and creative economy minister, a position he holds to this day.
