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Jokowi's son-in-law officially joins PDI-P in bid to run for Medan mayor
Bobby said he decided to join the PDI-P to follow in the footsteps of his father-in-law, President Jokowi, who is also a member of the party.
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Bobby Nasution (center), son-in-law of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. (Tribun Medan/Danil Siregar)
T
he son-in-law of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Bobby Nasution, officially registered himself as a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Thursday in a bid to run in the 2020 Medan mayoral race in North Sumatra, in September.
Bobby officially became a member of the PDI-P after signing a statement letter at the PDI-P North Sumatra office on Thursday afternoon.
Bobby said he decided to join the PDI-P to follow in the footsteps of his father-in-law, President Jokowi, who is also a member of the party.
"Any son must want to follow in the footsteps of his father," Bobby told the press after his inauguration as a party member.
Bobby refuted the claim that he had to be a member of the PDI-P to receive support from the party for the 2020 Medan mayoral election.
"There's no requirement that I have to be a member of any party [to receive support for the mayoral election]. Like I said, I just want to follow in the footsteps of my [father-in-law]," Bobby said.
Read also: Jokowi vows he 'won't be campaigning' for son, son-in-law in upcoming mayoral races
Bobby said he had not received an official recommendation from any party to run in the election. He also said he had not chosen a deputy candidate.
"I haven't got a recommendation [letter] yet. I'm frustrated to think about [choosing] a deputy candidate," he said.
Bobby expressed hope that he would receive support from other parties in the upcoming election.
"Even though I am a member of the PDI-P, I hope to gain support from all parties to develop and build Medan," he said.
Head of the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Japorman Saragih, said there were two party members that would run in the 2020 election, namely Bobby and the city's acting mayor, Akhyar Nasution.
"Both [party members] still have a great chance [to be nominated as a mayor candidate], but [the final decision] will be with chairwoman Ibu Megawati. Nobody knows [who will be nominated as the party's candidate] except [Megawati]," Japorman said.
He explained that the PDI-P would seek to form a coalition with other parties in the 2020 mayoral election.
[RA::Three parties ready to nominate Gibran if PDI-P picks another candidate in Surakarta/news/2020/02/15/three-parties-ready-to-nominate-gibran-if-pdi-p-picks-another-candidate-in-surakarta.html]
"The PDI-P is open [to a coalition], we can't work alone. We need cooperation," he said.
Last month, the Golkar Party joined the NasDem Party in announcing its support for Bobby's plan to run for Medan mayor.
“We have long supported Bobby and were waiting for the right moment to nominate him,” Golkar deputy secretary-general Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tanjung told reporters after opening Golkar’s North Sumatra regional conference in Medan on Monday.
NasDem chairman Surya Paloh said the party decided to support Bobby as the President’s son-in-law had earned the top spot in the party’s recent internal survey.
“We will give our utmost support to Bobby. He did well in our survey — too well, even,” Surya said. (nal)
