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PKS politician Ahmad Syaikhu takes over as new party chair
After two failed gubernatorial bids, PKS senior politician Ahmad Syaikhu has finally "won" a seat as the 2020-2025 party chair.
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Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) senior politician and then-Bekasi mayor Ahmad Syaikhu speaks to journalists during an event to mark National Awakening Day on May 24, 2017 at the Candrabhaga Patriots Stadium in Bekasi, West Java. (kompas.com/Anggita Muslimah)
T
he Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) appointed senior politician Ahmad Syaikhu as its chairman for 2020-2025 on Monday during a meeting of the party's Majelis Syura (advisory council).
"The council has selected a member to lead the party over the next five years," said PKS advisory council chair Habib Salim Segaf Aljufrie in referring to Ahmad's new role, as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.
Ahmad, 55, is a former House of Representatives lawmaker and was the Islamist party's gubernatorial candidate for two different provinces in the last two years.
He ran for West Java deputy governor in the 2018 regional elections paired with Sudrajat, a former military general and former ambassador to China. The pair was endorsed by the PKS and Gerindra, and lost to rival candidate Ridwan Kamil and his running mate Uu Ruzhanul Ulum.
In 2019, Ahmad stepped down as a House lawmaker when the PKS nominated him for the long-vacant post of Jakarta deputy governor.
However, he again failed to clinch the seat following a dispute between longtime allies PKS and Gerindra, which had backed Anies Baswedan in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. Gerindra insisted that it was entitled to nominate the replacement of former deputy governor and party member Sandiaga Uno. Gerindra's politician Ahmad Riza Patria was eventually appointed as the Jakarta deputy governor. (ggq)
