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It''s time for Megawati to entrust PDI-P to Jokowi
Megawati will regret and her die-hard supporters will lose their trust in her if the party concedes defeat because she is reluctant to entrust Jokowi to lead the party in facing the electoral battle.
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Megawati Sukarnoputri presents a book about herself titled “The Brave Lady“ to President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo during her birthday celebration in Jakarta on January 23, 2019. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
The timing could not be more fitting for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to hand over the baton of command of the party to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo before the election campaign begins in November. The transfer of power is needed for the sake of the unity the party badly needs to win both presidential and legislative elections for the third time in a row.
The party’s elite should not dismiss the possibility of a defeat in the presidential race given the fact that their candidate Ganjar Pranowo has been trailing Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto in opinion polls over the last few months.
I am pretty sure that Megawati can put aside her motherly instinct to pick Jokowi, rather than her daughter Puan Maharani, or either of her two sons, Mohammad Rizki Pratama and Mohammad Prananda Prabowo, as her successor.
For Megawati, who will turn 78 in January, the issue is not so much her intention to keep the party leadership within the biological offspring of her father Sukarno, the revered forefather of the party and the nation. The problem is instead about timing, Megawati should make up her mind as soon as possible due to her age and the capacity of none of her children to navigate the party in the face of perhaps its most challenging time.
In 2024 and 2019 Megawati displayed her statesmanship as she mandated Jokowi as "a party official" to contest the presidential elections. Her gamble paid off and both Jokowi and the PDI-P won the presidential and legislative elections, respectively. This year she should tell Jokowi, "Now you lead the party, take the decisions, but I keep the veto, right?" She can add: "Do not ever betray me for the sake of your children's political future."
With political parties already consolidating their own alliances ahead of the elections, I do not believe that the maneuvers by some PDI-P elites to try to persuade, if not force, Prabowo to give up his third presidential bid and accept the offer of being Ganjar’s running mate will work.
Gerindra is brimming with confidence about winning more legislative seats and the presidency next year, thanks in part to the grand coalition it has built, reportedly with the support of Jokowi.
