Jokowi left Jakarta a day before the anniversary event for a series of visits to Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines until Sunday, saying he "had not yet been invited" to the PDI-P’s 51st anniversary celebration.

Since Jokowi became president in 2014, he has always attended the PDI-P anniversary celebrations and given opening remarks, including in 2021 and 2022 when the annual event was held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past decade, almost every time the party celebrated its establishment, Jokowi was the first person to whom PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri offered the first slice of tumpeng (cone-shaped rice dish), an Indonesian tradition that often symbolizes respecting the oldest or most distinguished attendee.

Conflicting schedules

Presidential staff coordinator Ari Dwipayana said that Jokowi would not be able to attend the PDI-P anniversary because of a schedule conflict with his ASEAN tour, which “had been planned months ago”, in an apparent effort to counter speculations that the President was intentionally avoiding attending the event.

Ari also confirmed that the President had not received any invitation from the PDI-P by Tuesday.