"Have a little patience. We still have two years on. I am allowed to keep it to myself, am I not?” Megawati told the cadres with a smirk at her speed in closing the party’s national meeting on Thursday.

 

The 75-years-old matriarch said that she would like to give careful consideration before she unveils her final choice as nominee.

 

“I, as the chairwoman, have to calculate. My calculations aren't finished yet,” the party leader said, accompanied by her daughter House Speaker Puan Maharani and son Prananda Prabowo.

 

Asked about whether she knows who is on her mother’s mind, Puan hinted that Megawati already had her eyes on someone. “There already is [a name], for sure. It remains in the heart of the chairwoman," Puan said.

Getting cadres in line

On Tuesday, Megawati delivered a fiery opening speech before party cadres -- including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo -- claiming her prerogative to nominate a candidate as she warned party members that she would not tolerate any political maneuvering and anyone who overstepped her authority would face expulsion.

Read also: Megawati lays down law to PDI-P rank and file

The national working meeting came after talks of rocky rapport reemerged between Megawati and Jokowi after the party chairwoman skipped the wedding of Jokowi’s younger sister Idayati to Constitutional Court justice Anwar Usman last month.

 

Previously, Jokowi -- who is on his second and final presidential term -- had appeared to give his implicit support for Ganjar when both attended a rally in Central Java organized by Jokowi’s volunteer group Projo, which has supported the former since before his first presidential bid.

Several PDI-P members have also launched attacks on Ganjar in the past month accusing him of being 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.

Just before Megawati's Thursday closing speech, Ganjar was called up to read out the conclusion of the meeting before other party members, in which one of the points was the party’s nomination of the 2024 pair of presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

 

"Based on the decision of the party's fifth congress, the party's articles of association and the party's democratic tradition, it is the prerogative of the party chairwoman," Ganjar read out loud to a loud applause.

 

Djarot Saiful Hidayat, one of the central board executives, brushed off any presumption that Ganjar was intentionally being put on stage to read the particular passage.

 

"Governors who were present were given the opportunity to [read the conclusion],” Djarot told reporters.

Election game plan

In a three-day span this week, PDI-P held the national working meeting at the party’s education center in Jakarta after it was delayed last year due to the pandemic. 

Party leaders from its central and regional boards gathered and discussed several strategic issues, including the strategy to win the 2024 general elections and ways to consolidate the membership.

National surveys by several pollsters have placed Ganjar at the top of three figures with the most electability, along with Gerindra chairman and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, while Puan’s electability still lagged far behind.

Read also: Jokowi tells supporters to be patient, but hints at Ganjar for 2024 race

Megawati stressed that she was not looking for a leader who relied merely on electability ratings.

"The leader that is desired by the people is [one who is] strong ideologically; a capable figure who has the ability to lead Indonesia’s government,” Megawati said, underlining that leaders must be able to see the challenges in the future, especially in facing the threat of global uncertainty, the potential for a world recession and the food crisis.

 

PDI-P has continued exploring coalition talks with other political parties to form an alliance in the 2024 elections. 

Puan, who also chaired the central executive board, said that although the party has not been seen in contact with other political parties, it did not mean it did not want to cooperate with others.

“It was conveyed earlier in the meeting that silaturahmi [communal bonds] is mandatory, and God willing, after this National Working Meeting, we will start carrying out silaturahmi,” she said.

The party however has closed its door to any chance of cooperation with two opposition parties, namely the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

"The PDI-P supporters are wong cilik [ordinary people] who don't like any forms of political camouflage," Puan said.