TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
A political dynasty in the making? Jokowi's son, son-in-law eye mayoral posts in 2020 regional elections
But as Jokowi is about to begin his second term in office following a successful reelection bid in April, two members of the first family have indicated their intentions to enter politics.
Change Size
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (left) and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo (center) stroll around the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java accompanied by son Gibran Rakabuming Raka and his wife Selvi Ananda, their son Jan Ethes, as well as their daughter Kahiyang Ayu and her husband Bobby Afif Nasution and their daughter Sedah Mirah on Dec. 8, 2018.
(JP/Seto Wardhana)
W
hen Joko "Jokowi" Widodo contested the presidential election in 2014, he was widely seen as an outsider taking on the nation’s big political dynasties. The furniture businessman beat the odds, riding on the wave of popularity as the nation was getting tired of being ruled by political dynasties.
But as Jokowi is about to begin his second term in office following a successful reelection bid in April, two members of the first family have indicated their intentions to enter politics.
The President’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming, 31, is projected to run for mayor in Surakarta, Central Java, the same job that launched his father’s political career in 2005. Son-in-law Bobby Nasution, 28, who is married to Jokowi’s daughter Kahiyang Ayu, is already making inquiries about the possibility of running for mayor of Medan in North Sumatra.
Both elections will take place next year, along with dozens of other local elections across the nation.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Gibran is also eyeing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as his political ride. The food entrepreneur registered to be a member of the ruling party on Monday.
Gibran did not deny that he was registering for PDI-P membership to become a candidate in the 2020 Surakarta mayoral election.
“According to the instructions of Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo, I am required to possess a KTA [party membership] card before registering as a candidate. I will then register at the Banjarsari branch in accordance to my domicile,” he told reporters.
