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Jokowi steps up opposition to Puan’s presidential ambitions
The last time Jokowi signaled his endorsement of Ganjar came on Nov. 26, when he said the next president of Indonesia should have white hair and a wrinkled face because it was proof that the person had worked very hard for the people. White hair is the trademark of 54-year-old Ganjar, a two-time Central Java governor.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo waves to his supporters during a mass rally at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium on Nov. 26, 2022. (kompas.com/Kristianto Purnomo)
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s a Javanese man President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo prefers to refrain from openly expressing his opposition to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) plan to nominate its chairwoman’s daughter Puan Maharani as its presidential candidate in the 2024 race. But his actions and statements show he does not want Puan to contest the election, perhaps because he believes it will be a suicidal act for the party and, also for his carefully crafted post-presidential plans.
Jokowi will leave office in October 2024, but his approval rating is still high for a second-term president and his grassroots support remains strong. Several volunteer groups who supported his nomination in the 2014 and 2019 elections have vowed to support whichever presidential candidate he will endorse in 2024.
Acting as pressure groups, they have organized gatherings to show off their power, in the presence of the President. During these rallies Jokowi has often hinted at his preference for Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo as his successor.
Jokowi has also been preparing his political future because he will only be 63 years old when he transfers power to the new president. Jokowi stands an almost perfect chance of holding a strategic position in the PDI-P, including the top job because no other politician in the party can match his capacity and acceptability.
Do not forget Jokowi may also have made plans for the political future of his three children, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Kahiyang Ayu and Kaesang Pangarep. Like father like son, Gibran is the current Surakarta mayor and may intend to run in the gubernatorial election in Central Java, or perhaps Jakarta, in November 2024. Kahiyang’s husband Bobby Nasution now serves as the mayor of Medan in North Sumatra and may eye the gubernatorial post in the regional elections in November 2024.
Jokowi’s youngest son, Kaesang, who will marry his fiancée Erina Gudono next week, runs a medium-sized business, but may also follow in his father’s political footsteps.
Jokowi’s pressure on the PDI-P and party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to pick Ganjar, rather than Puan, as presidential candidate looks like a preemptive act, because the party will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Jan. 10 next year, 13 days before Megawati’s 76th birthday on Jan. 23, 2023. Party insiders believe she will make her final decision on the party’s presidential candidate during the PDI-P anniversary celebrations.
