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Jokowi shores up power base as health crisis drags on
With PAN officially joining the ruling coalition, Jokowi has now secured the support of 82 percent of members of the House of Representatives, leaving only the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as the opposition.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo greets the audience before delivering his state of union address on Aug. 16. (Courtesy of/Press Bureau of Presidential Secretariat )
A
day after the country passed the 4 million COVID-19 cases mark on Aug. 24, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gathered the executives of six ruling coalition parties at the State Palace to introduce the National Mandate Party (PAN), a party with strong support among urban Muslims, as a “new best friend” of the government.
A week later on Wednesday, Jokowi held another political meeting at his office, this time with the smaller members of the coalition that have no seats in the House of Representatives.
The two meetings, analysts say, indicate the President’s attempt to consolidate his power as he grapples to contain the fallout of the health crisis that has derailed his signature projects and taken a toll on his approval ratings, and to ensure the loyalty of his coalition parties, which have begun to gear up for the 2024 general elections.
With PAN officially joining the ruling coalition, Jokowi, whose popularity dropped from above 70 percent at the beginning of the pandemic to below 60 percent last month, has now secured the support of 82 percent of members of the House, leaving only the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as the opposition.
Despite being perceived as a political “outsider”, the former Surakarta, Central Java, mayor currently has a far bigger coalition than that of his predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who held the support of 76 percent of House members after securing his second term.
‘Curse of the second term’
