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U-20 bust shows Jokowi has a rocky road ahead
The clash between the President and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) over Israeli participation in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup is only the latest of many signs of the ongoing power reconfiguration, or oligarchic realignment, within his coalition.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (center) sits next to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri (second right) during a lunch meeting on March 18,. Also joining the meeting is Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung Wibowo (left) and PDI-P Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto (right). (The Jakarta Post/Antara)
T
he power bloc that props up the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration has always been fractured, consisting of different, if conflicting, social, political and business interests. It is not unusual for the ruling elites to clash over critical state policies. Flip-flops and U-turns have been a feature, rather than a bug, of the current government.
But never has the ruling coalition been this dangerously fractious. While the President has managed to consolidate his power by keeping at least nine political parties, two major Islamic groups and several powerful oligarchs on his side, he may now be starting to lose the political capital to keep members of his ruling coalition in check.
This could be the beginning of the end for Jokowi’s political leadership. With the proposal to extend his term going nowhere, and his time to vacate the State Palace drawing closer each day, Jokowi’s coalition is now wobbling on shaky ground.
The clash between the President and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) over Israeli participation in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which led to Indonesia’s shocking removal as host of the global soccer event, is only the latest of many signs of the ongoing power reconfiguration, or oligarchic realignment, within his coalition. It is a symptom of a deepening division among his strongest supporters that could severely undermine his leadership in the last two years of his presidency.
Paloh vs. Megawati
The first sign of fracturing within the ruling bloc would be the NasDem Party’s decision to nominate former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as Jokowi’s successor.
Jokowi and other coalition members have long considered Anies the poster boy of anti-government forces. That NasDem leader Surya Paloh is working with the opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), to sell Anies as “Jokowi’s successor” may sound absurd. But it makes sense politically, given the troubled relationship between Paloh and PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri.
