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.

Jakarta Post

PPP regional branches eye Sandiaga Uno for party leadership

Sandiaga Uno is currently a deputy chairman of the Gerindra Party.

Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, October 27, 2020

Share This Article

Change Size

PPP regional branches eye Sandiaga Uno for party leadership Businessman and former Jakarta deputy governor Sandiaga Uno speaks at a discussion about the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy on March 7. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak)

S

everal regional branches of the United Development Party (PPP) are promoting former Jakarta deputy governor and businessman Sandiaga Uno to be their next party chairman.

Voting for the chairmanship will take place during the party’s congress, which is slated for mid-December.

PPP deputy secretary-general Achmad Baidowi said Sandiaga was one of several names submitted by the party’s branch executive boards (DPC) to lead the party. Other names include acting party chairman and National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa and former East Java deputy governor Saifullah "Gus Ipul" Yusuf

"Several DPCs mentioned Sandiaga’s name. It wasn’t me who proposed his name,” Baidowi told the press on Monday.

PPP secretary-general Arsul Sani uploaded a picture with Sandiaga on his Instagram account @arsul_sani_af on Monday. However, he told journalists that the meeting shown in the photo, which took place on Oct. 23, had nothing to do with the demands from party members for Sandiaga to be PPP chairman.

Sandiaga is currently one of the Gerindra Party’s deputy chairs. He took the position several months after running as a vice-presidential candidate alongside current Defense Minister and Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto in the 2019 presidential election. The pair lost to incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and running mate Ma’ruf Amin.

Read also: Sandiaga Uno joins campaign team of Jokowi's son in Surakarta mayoral race

Responding to the issue, Gerindra executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said the party would let Sandiaga decide whether he wanted to accept the demand or not. He went on to say that this was not the first time the businessman was offered the chairmanship of a political party, as Sandiaga has high electability prospects.

"However, we still hope that Sandi will remain in our big family. We’re sure that Sandi will not accept offers from other parties,” Dasco said.

Sandiaga's spokesperson, Kawendra Lukistian, said he was sure that Sandiaga would not accept the offer, asserting that the businessman was loyal to his party.

“Sandiaga is on good terms with Prabowo, [Sufmi] Dasco and other Gerindra executives.”

The PPP has been in a leadership crisis since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named former chairman Muhammad "Romy" Romahurmuziy a suspect in a bribery case connected to the Religious Affairs Ministry in March 2019

The party has been losing voters as a result. In the 2019 legislative elections, PPP only secured 6.3 million votes or 4.25 percent of the vote, a significant drop from the 8.1 million votes it garnered in the 2014 legislative elections.

 

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.