Not only did the KPK investigators quiz Hasto, a staunch critic of Jokowi’s alleged intervention in the Feb. 14 presidential election process, for hours on June 10, but they also seized his cell phones, which allegedly contained information about Harun’s whereabouts and documents about the PDI-P’s preparation for the Nov. 27 regional elections. 

The subject is predictable, and the pattern is familiar. The case that was left untouched for four years until Jokowi and the PDI-P, the party that catapulted him to power, parted ways. 

In the past two years, in the lead-up to the Feb. 14 general election, the KPK and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) investigated and prosecuted politicians deemed to be threats to the ruling coalition. 

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who has portrayed himself as Jokowi’s antithesis, faced questioning related to a suspected graft case in a Formula E project in late 2022, before he announced his intention to run for president. 

After announcing its political support for Anies, NasDem, a key ally of Jokowi, lost two of its three ministerial seats within the span of a year, albeit for corruption cases entangling its politicians. Now the PDI-P could follow suit. Hasto's questioning may indicate that the relationship between Jokowi and the party has not only turned sour, but hostile.

In May last year, the AGO arrested NasDem politician Johny G. Plate, who was then the communications and information minister, for allegedly receiving kickbacks in base transceiver station (BTS) construction projects. He was later found guilty and sentenced to 15 years. 

Five months after Johny’s arrest, the KPK arrested another NasDem politician, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, then the agriculture minister, and charged him with extortion and accepting gratuities. He is currently on trial.   

The KPK also questioned Muhaimin Iskandar, the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), another ally of Jokowi, when he decided to contest the presidential election as the running mate to Anies. The pair challenged Jokowi’s preferred presidential candidate pair of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who eventually won the race.   

The PDI-P threw its weight behind chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri’s presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo and his running mate Mahfud MD. The fallout worsened during the election campaign season in which Jokowi poured social aid into Central Java, the PDI-P’s traditional stronghold which Ganjar led from 2013 to 2023. The vote tally showed Ganjar and Mahfud were defeated by Prabowo and Gibran in Central Java, as well as other PDI-P strongholds.

The rivalry between Jokowi and the PDI-P will move to a new chapter in the upcoming regional elections. Puan Maharani, a PDI-P senior politician and Megawati’s daughter, has expressed interest in supporting Anies in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. 

Another PDI-P politician, Andi Widjajanto, told Tempo magazine that the party has mapped out Jokowi-affiliated candidates and is currently preparing strategies to win in the regional elections. Even if they lose in the provinces, they still expect to back winning candidates in the regencies and cities.    

It is also rumored that President Jokowi is preparing another cabinet reshuffle to remove PDI-P ministers. Jokowi has denied such a plan. 

Nevertheless, the nation is watching the escalating power rivalry between Jokowi and the PDI-P as the simultaneous regional elections draw near. The political drama may play out like a mythological Greek tragedy, which would not benefit the people.  

How do you expect a winning regional head candidate to think about their people when they have Jokowi, who will leave office on Oct. 20, his allies and other political parties waiting at the checkout counter?