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Parties prepare succession with 2024 election in mind
The two largest political parties in the country look set to accelerate their internal regeneration in anticipation of the 2024 general election, in which the country will elect a new president
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span>The two largest political parties in the country look set to accelerate their internal regeneration in anticipation of the 2024 general election, in which the country will elect a new president.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the leading party in the ruling coalition, has scheduled its fifth national congress for Aug. 8, although chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri is supposed to end her tenure in 2020.
The congress, which will take place in Bali, is expected to also elect a new party leader, although the figure will not replace Megawati.
Senior PDI-P politician Pramono Anung said there had been talks to appoint a chief executive or deputy chairperson to run the daily affairs of the party.
“The congress will decide on the mechanism [to appoint a new leader],” he said at the House of Representatives building on Tuesday.
The Cabinet secretary in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration added it would not be possible to replace Megawati, as she was the uniting figure in the party, especially after the party won the 2019 legislative election.
The PDI-P has solidified its position as the ruling party with its victory in the legislative election in April. The party also supported the reelection of Jokowi, the party’s most successful politician.
However, questions remain about the future of the party in 2024, when Jokowi will not be able to run again. While Megawati, who was the country’s only female president, has maintained the party leadership since 1999, the party still has to groom new figures as possible presidential candidates.
Many believe the party is preparing Megawati’s daughter, Puan Maharani, who is currently the coordinating human development and culture minister, to succeed her mother, but doubts linger on whether she could run in the next presidential election.
By holding the congress, the party is expected to start regeneration even before Jokowi’s inauguration for his second term in October.
“The congress is accelerated, so that the party will have been consolidated by the time the President as well as members of the House and the People’s Consultative Assembly [MPR] are inaugurated and when the Cabinet is formed. The party will then have a specific strategic agenda to support the administration,” said PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto.
The Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law secures the House speaker position for the party as the election winner. But the party still has to lobby other parties to win the MPR leadership, which will be elected by voting in the assembly forum.
The PDI-P does not directly dominate the forum, as the assembly consists of House members and members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
Political expert Adi Prayitno from Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University (UIN Jakarta) said the PDI-P congress was likely to open the door for regeneration, yet there might be a number of members that want to keep Megawati in the leadership post.
“Under Megawati, the party is running effectively and can be a powerful party both as a ruling party or in opposition,” Adi said. “However, if the party wants a regeneration, then Puan is the strongest hopeful, because she is her daughter. Like it or not, the PDI-P will keep the Sukarno’s blood.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is pushed by its senior politicians to hold an extraordinary congress in September this year to appoint a new chairman to replace party patron and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is supposed to end his leadership of the party in 2020.
The Democrat’s highest council member and senior politician, Max Sopacua, said Yudhoyono could appoint his elder son Agus Harimurti, as the next party chairman. Agus has also been touted to run in the next presidential election, which is expected to feature young politicians and successful regional heads, including Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.
“It’s not difficult to hold an extraordinary national congress, Yudhoyono can just appoint his son to lead the party,” Max said.
Unlike the PDI-P, Agus has been perceived as a strong candidate for the presidential election after his maneuvers in this year’s general election and the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
Agus is currently leader of the party’s joint command for the 2019 election, or — as many say — the party’s “indefinitive chairman”.
Democrat advisory board member Achmad Mubarok said the initiative to hold the congress had come from a number of cadres worried about the party’s decline in electability in the 2019 legislative election. The Democrats only gathered 7.7 percent of the vote in the legislative election, compared to 10.9 percent they had obtained in 2014.
