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Without Jokowi's favor, PAN sits on the fence ahead of regional polls
Zulkifli Hasan, who has become the first chairman to serve two periods in the party, said PAN would neither become part of the government coalition nor the opposition.
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PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan (second from right), senior PAN politician Hatta Rajasa and several other PAN members gather amid a clash at the party's national congress in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Feb. 11. (Antara/Jojon)
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fter a raucous congress last week, Zulkifli Hasan has secured his second term as National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman. But the shift in political landscape caused by the general election and formation of a new government coalition may bring a new journey for the party that had been part of the government during the first term of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Zulkifli, who has become the first chairman to serve two periods in the party, said PAN would neither become part of the government coalition nor the opposition.
“I did not support Pak Jokowi [in the 2019 election], so we cannot join [the government], let us be,” he said on Wednesday while closing the congress in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi as quoted by Antara.
He said the party would become “a critical partner” that would provide solutions for the country’s problems.
Founded in 1999 as a pluralist party, PAN has seen its electoral fortunes fall in each successive general election, from 7.12 percent of the vote in 1999 to 6.44 in 2004, 6.01 in 2009. It experienced a rise to 7.59 percent of the vote in 2014 but fell again to 6.84 in 2019.
Experts say among reasons for its failures is its diminishing popularity, especially among non-Muslim voters, due to the maneuvers of its senior politician and cofounder Amien Rais, who sided with hard-line Islamic groups during the 2019 elections and took an opposition stance against Jokowi.
Amien, whose son is married to Zulkifli’s daughter, took the stance during Jokowi’s first term despite PAN being part of the government’s coalition and controlling one seat in the Cabinet.
