t is by far the least powerful job among the country's highest state political institutions, but for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the position of House speaker may be a consolation prize after emerging as the party with the most votes in the February general elections. But even this is not automatic, depending upon the dictates of other parties.
It is a hattrick for the PDI-P winning the most votes in three successive elections, but it is a sour victory as it lost the much more coveted prize: the presidency.
The PDI-P's candidate Ganjar Pranowo came third and last in the presidential election. That race was won by Prabowo Subianto who ran on Gerindra's ticket but ironically with the support of incumbent president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, a card-carrying PDI-P member. The PDI-P gave Jokowi the ticket to run and won both in 2014 and 2019.
The PDI-P had its chance but did not grab it when Jokowi maneuvered last year to get the Constitutional Court to bend the rules and let his 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka contest the presidential race in spite of his young age. Prabowo was quick on the mark and took Gibran as his running mate, benefitting from Jokowi's popularity. PDI-P matron Megawati Soekarnoputri may regret that loss opportunity. She had the first choice but turned down Gibran, who was then also a PDI-P member.
On Wednesday, the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the results of the Feb. 14 elections. Besides confirming Prabowo's landslide 58 percent victory, it gave the final results of the legislative elections, with the PDI-P still coming top, albeit with a smaller percentage margin than in 2019. Closing the gap in second is the Golkar Party, which also supported the Prabowo-Gibran ticket.
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