Yerica Lai

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) says that it is not worried about losing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s grassroots votes for the 2024 presidential and legislative elections.

This came after an inaugural convention of potential rival alliance the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) on Saturday, where it hinted at nominating popular governors outside the coalition, including one from the PDI-P – Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo. The event was also attended by Budi Arie Setiadi, head of Jokowi’s biggest supporter group Projo, which has backed Jokowi since before his first-term presidency.

This raised speculation that the Golkar Party-initiated coalition would give its presidential ticket to Ganjar at the behest of Jokowi.

In a rally hosted by Projo late last month, Jokowi told his supporters to not rush into declaring which prospective candidates they would endorse for the 2024 race, while hinting his support for a particular presidential candidate he said was also present in the rally. Jokowi did not mention Ganjar's name but speculation was rife that the person in question was Ganjar, the only prospective candidate attending the rally. Ganjar's name was also cheered several times by Jokowi's supporters during the rally.

Tensions have been brewing among PDI-P members as two high-profile members – Ganjar and House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani – tacitly compete for the party’s nomination to follow in the footsteps of outgoing President Jokowi and become Indonesia’s next leader.

Several party members have launched attacks on the popular governor, stating him as being kemlinthi (Javanese for arrogant) for not toeing the party line and accusing him of strategically building a supporter base on social media to pursue his own political interest over the party.

PDI-P lawmaker Trimedya Panjaitan also questioned Ganjar's track record as a lawmaker in the past and as the governor of Central Java.

"What has he done [for Central Java] over the past eight years besides being busy on social media? He should have solved the Wadas [issue]; he should have solved tidal floods [...]," Trimedya said in a press release last week.

He was referring to the unrest in Wadas village earlier this year and the recurring tidal floods on the northern coast of Semarang and other places in the province. The police's use of force against Wadas villagers who opposed a mining plan had been widely criticized and cast a negative spotlight on Ganjar recently. 

Trimedya also accused Ganjar of luring prospective voters from outside Central Java when the latter visited several places recently, including Medan in North Sumatra and Makassar in Sulawesi.

“For me as a PDI-P cadre, Ganjar doesn't respect [party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri],” Trimedya added.

PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said the party would not fret if Jokowi’s supporter group directed its support to a presidential candidate other than the one nominated by the party.

“We can't have a president who was elected only because of the support of a few people or political parties […] let alone the support of those who are not part of political parties when we in fact need support from the House in running the government,” Hasto told reporters on Saturday.

"We can see that [in Jokowi’s] first term, [he had] a very strong voter base [who were either members of his supporter groups or linked to them], but when [he had] less than 50 percent [of the power base] at the House, it was difficult to consolidate the government,” he said.

Jokowi’s minority government coalition made for a fraught first year in 2014, with very little legislation passed by his administration and low approval ratings for the President.

Asked about when the party would nominate its presidential candidate, Hasto hinted that the party would not lean much into electability ratings.

“Don't let the election discourse revolve around the electoral aspect without looking in detail at what kind of leadership we need or what national problems must be responded to by the [potential] candidates whose names are raised in surveys,” he said.

“Megawati always reminds us to know the Indonesian people. For those who feel called, or want to take part in the contest, it's better to go around Indonesia to dig into what is meant by the real will of the people,” Hasto added. “And just because one has made a move in a province, one must not already call himself a leader."

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