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Ganjar came in last at Megawati’s local polling station
Despite the poor results of its presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo, preliminary counts have shown that the PDI-P is on track to win the national legislative election.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri (center), leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) talks with President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (left) on Sept. 29, 2023, as 2024 election candidate Ganjar Pranowo stands next to them before they pose for a group photo during the party's national meeting in Jakarta. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
The presidential candidate backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP-P), Ganjar Pranowo, received the lowest votes at the polling station (TPS) where the party’s chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri cast her vote.
At TPS 053 Kebagusan in South Jakarta, Ganjar received 67 votes, while three ballots were declared invalid. Meanwhile, Anies Baswedan got 113 votes at the polling station, and Prabowo Subianto received 76 votes.
After voting, Megawati expressed her hope for an election that was free from fraud. She also said that voters should help monitor any fraud attempts, encouraging them to report such incidents.
"I just want to convey to all Indonesian people that this [voting] is their right, this is the right of the people to choose someone. Thus, do not be afraid, do not hesitate, vote with your conscience,” Megawati said on Feb. 14.
Discussions surrounding the defeat of the Ganjar-Mahfud pair have become a trending topic on X. On Feb. 15, the keyword “PDIP” ranked second in Indonesia with 102,000 related tweets.
Commentators on social media have also brought up an old remark made by Megawati during the PDI-P 50th-anniversary commemoration event on Jan. 10, 2023. Megawati at that time talked about the superiority of her party.
"[President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] is like that, you know, putting on airs. If there was no PDI-P [supporting him], he would be in a [pitiful situation]," she said.
According to preliminary counts by pollsters and the General Elections Commission (KPU), while the PDI-P gathered the most votes in the national legislative election, Ganjar got the least votes compared with the other two presidential candidates.
Critics have said that Ganjar's poor results show that the PDI-P's political machine was not effective in the presidential election.
