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Can Kaesang bring the PSI into the big leagues?
Party's success on the upcoming legislative election will depend on grassroots traction from the works down by legislative candidates, not "gimmicks" that may only work for urban voters, experts have said
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Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman Kaesang Pangarep delivers his speech after he is officiated as the party chairman in a party meeting in Jakarta on Sept. 25, 2023. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
After failing to win enough votes in the most recent election to earn a place in the House of Representatives, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), a self-proclaimed “youth party”, is hoping its new chairman, Kaesang Pangarep, will open a viable path to the legislature.
The youngest son of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Kaesang was named PSI chairman late last month, replacing pop-singer-turned-politician Giring Ganesha.
He did not have any prior experience in politics and was appointed chair just days after he joined the party.
PSI executive Andy Budiman said he was "optimistic" that Kaesang could help the party win at least 4 percent of the national vote in 2024, the threshold to secure seats in the House.
"Our regional members and legislative candidates have found a new sense of hope after Kaesang's appointment as party chairman. They have started to move and campaign more enthusiastically," Andy told The Jakarta Post recently.
Gen Z vote
In its 2019 electoral debut, the PSI won 1.89 percent of the national vote, too small a share to send members to the House. Recent opinion surveys place the party's support at between 0.8 and 2.1 percent of the electorate.
