Gibran Rakabuming Raka (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has started to feel the pressure of next year’s regional elections as the son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who is a party member, has applied to run in Surakarta’s mayoral race in Central Java.

The President’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, filed his application to the party’s Central Java office in Semarang on Thursday after the party’s municipality office declined his bid.

The 32-year-old food entrepreneur, who had approached PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, arrived with about 100 supporters who wore T-shirts bearing caricatures of the country’s national heroes.

“I am grateful for your support. I owe this to you and will pay my debt with policies that aim to improve the welfare of [Surakarta’s] people,” Gibran said in front of his supporters.

Gibran decided to run after a survey by Surakarta-based Slamet Riyadi University (Unisri) in July showed that he had a popularity rating of 90 percent, surpassing Deputy Mayor Achmad Purnomo who had been planning to run as mayor. However, the survey also found that Gibran still lagged behind Achmad in terms of acceptability and electability.

The PDI-P’s Surakarta office later declined his application, saying that it had already granted a nomination to Achmad. Gibran, who was still eager to pursue the mayoral race, later approached the party’s national figures, including Megawati, and decided to file an application through the provincial party office.

PDI-P politician Puan Maharani, Megawati’s daughter, responded positively to Gibran’s application. “It is his political right to become a candidate for mayor, and he should follow the internal party mechanism of the PDI-P.”

Puan declined to comment when asked whether there would be a possibility of her mother giving Gibran’s nomination her blessing, saying only that “all potential candidates must go through the party’s mechanisms”.

Observers have speculated that Gibran’s mayoral bid may have caused tension within the PDI-P, which finds itself in the awkward position of possibly turning down the President’s son. On the other hand, approving Gibran may stir a few feathers at the party’s Surakarta office.  

Paramadina University political communication expert Hendri Satrio agreed that Gibran’s connection to Jokowi would be his main selling point in the mayoral election. “He has nothing to offer [voters] except the fact that he’s the President’s son.”

Jokowi was the mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012, an advantage that would influence voters into believing that Gibran would be able to run Surakarta as well as his father, even though he had never been involved in politics.

 “If the PDI-P allows Gibran to actually run in the mayoral election, he will win effortlessly,” said Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin.

He predicted that the PDI-P would flex its authority over the Surakarta office and nominate Gibran to honor the President.

In Jakarta, Jokowi said Gibran’s decision to run for Surakarta mayor was purely his son’s and denied allegations that his family was on its way to establishing yet another political dynasty in the country. “[The election] is a competition. He can win or lose; it’s up to the people,” said the President.

PDI-P Central Java head Bambang Wuryanto ensured that the selection for mayoral candidates would be fair. “We will not give Gibran the red carpet,” Bambang said. He added that the authority to decide on a candidate for the PDI-P ticket would be in the hands of Megawati.

“A special case must be made through the chairwoman’s decision. What is special? For me, it’s [a candidate] who may have a political impact on the national scale. Could Gibran have a national impact? Well, he’s the President’s son after all,” Bambang said.

In Medan, the President’s son-in-law, Bobby Afif Nasution, submitted to Golkar on Friday his application to become a mayoral candidate.

Bobby was assisted by Doli Sinomba Siregar, a party member who is also his uncle, when he visited the party’s headquarters and was welcomed by the chief of the party's regional executive board, M. Syaf Lubis. “Golkar is my family. The vision to become a mayor is not for me, but for the city. Medan is the third-largest city in the country, but it is losing its bargaining position,” said Bobby.

Syaf responded positively to Bobby’s decision, despite the fact that he was the 16th candidate to submit an application. At the end of the day, he said, it was up to Golkar’s central executive board in Jakarta to decide whether to support Bobby’s bid.

Last week, the Medan native also applied as a mayoral candidate, submitting his bid to the PDI-P’s North Sumatra branch.

Political observer Warjio of the University of North Sumatra (USU) warned that the steps taken by Bobby and Gibran would inspire other politicians to seek more political clout through family connections. “This is dangerous for the growth of our democracy. [A president’s] son and son-in-law running for regional heads has only happened within the Jokowi administration. It did not happen in the previous ones,” he said. (glh)

— Ganug Nugroho Adi in Surakarta and Apriadi Gunawan in Medan contributed to the story.

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