Acting on the instructions of her mother and PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was the country’s fifth and only female president, Puan embarked on her “political safari” on Monday with a visit to Surya Paloh, chairman of the NasDem Party, also part of the coalition government.

The visit is among the tasks Megawati has given Puan to explore potential electoral alliances for the 2024 general election, which analysts see as a way to groom the House of Representatives Speaker for the presidency and boost her electability.

Camaraderie

In a joint press briefing after their meeting, Puan and Surya expressed their desire to continue the discussion between the two parties.

Surya reaffirmed the camaraderie between PDI-P and NasDem, which had both backed Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2014 and 2019, while Puan likened the visit to “an uncle welcoming his niece”.

Both parties refrained from making a formal commitment for 2024.

Before the meeting, NasDem executive Willy Aditya said the party intended to announce any alliance and its presidential nominee toward the end of this year, emphasizing that no such announcement would be forthcoming from the meeting with Puan.

NasDem has tipped two popular governors, Central Java’s Ganjar Pranowo from the PDI-P and Jakarta’s Anies Baswedan, an independent, as potential candidates. It has also indicated a preference for Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa. None of the three are NasDem members.

Puan was quick to redirect reporters’ questions about Ganjar to Surya, who said that the party’s list of potential candidates was not necessarily set in stone.

“The situation is evolving and dynamic, and I am also considering Puan during her visit,” he said as Puan laughed next to him.

Ganjar’s electability rating continues to rise, with the latest poll by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) showing him leading with 25.5 percent, up from 8.8 percent in March 2021.

The SMRC polls also showed Gerindra Party chair Prabowo Subianto lagging in second with 16.7 percent, with Anies following close behind in third with 14.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Puan has continued to trail with a low single digit, currently at 1 percent but up from 0.5 percent last March.

Puan’s road to nomination

However, Puan’s low ratings might not matter much to the PDI-P – or other political parties, political analyst Firman Noor from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said on Tuesday.

He believed that the PDI-P’s decision to send Puan on a campaign tour now to build more political capital was because the party had realized it still needed to team up with other parties, even though it was the only party eligible to nominate a presidential candidate without forming an alliance.

NasDem being the first stop on Puan’s “safari” was also a strategic choice, Firman said, as it still had strong influence over the press, thanks to media mogul Surya.

Besides which, the PDI-P still seemed confident about nominating Puan. “Ganjar might be ahead in the polls, but so far, Megawati and the people around her don’t really consider poll numbers a priority,” he added.

Megawati has said before that the party’s presidential pick was her prerogative.

Firman said other parties might still consider forming an alliance with the PDI-P despite Puan’s poor ratings because they tended to be pragmatic, particularly ahead of an election.

And even if Puan’s road to 2024 were smooth, he said, the public still needed a lot of convincing.

In recent months, Puan and the PDI-P have made a more concerted effort to raise her public profile, especially targeting women voters. She has thrown her weight behind two bills that predominantly affect women: the mother and child welfare bill and the sexual violence bill, which was passed into law in April.

Executive director Adi Prayitno of Parameter Politik Indonesia said that, with the election still two years away, there was still time for Puan to work on her electability.

Adi instead believed that Puan’s visit to Surya was partly aimed at quashing rumors of a conflict between the two parties in the coalition government.

“The PDI-P works under the policy of gotong royong [mutual cooperation] and is open to working with other parties, with the possible exception of the Prosperous of Justice Party [PKS] and the Democratic Party,” he added.