PDI Perjuangan after the deaths of Jokowi, Gibran and Bobby
PDI-P needs to give birth to a new electoral magnet after Jokowi, Gibran and Bobby are no longer there. The 2024 regional elections will be a moment.
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The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle or PDI-P has firmly stated that President Joko Widodo and his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, are no longer part of the party. Likewise Jokowi's son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, who had already been dismissed from the party led by Megawati Soekarnoputri. Losing Jokowi, Gibran and Bobby, will PDI-P survive?
Jokowi smiled when asked by the media about the statement made by the Chairman of PDI-P Central Executive Board, Komarudin Watubun, who mentioned that he and Gibran were no longer members of PDI-P after attending the National Health Work Meeting 2024 at ICE BSD, South Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday (24/4/2024). The subsequent statement that came out was very brief.
"Yes, thank you," he said. After that, the President chose to rush away from journalists and was reluctant to provide further responses.
The day before, Gibran had spoken out about Komarudin's statement, which claimed he was no longer a member of PDI-P. "It's okay, it doesn't matter," Gibran said at Surakarta City Hall in Central Java.
Also read: End of Waiting for Prabowo Subianto
He wouldn't even mind being fired from the party that helped him become the Mayor of Surakarta. "It's okay, I don't mind, if I get fired," said Gibran.
When asked about the possibility of him and Jokowi moving to another political party, Gibran only asked for patience. "There hasn't been any discussion about it. Just wait and see. (Jokowi's new party) Oh, I don't know. You should ask him directly," he said.
Also read: Jokowi-Gibran are no longer in PDI Perjuangan, is it possible to join Golkar?
On Monday (22/4/2024), Komarudin Watubun stated that Jokowi's support for the presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2024 election makes Jokowi no longer appropriate to be referred to as part of PDIP. Moreover, Gibran has run for the presidency with Prabowo, who is not an endorsed presidential candidate of PDIP. Gibran's status as a PDIP cadre is automatically lost.
Bobby Nasution was even dismissed from PDI-P earlier because of his support for Prabowo-Gibran in the 2024 presidential election. Bobby's decision to expel him was stated in letter number 217/IN/DPC-29.B- 26.B/XI/2023 which was signed by the Chairman of the PDI-P Medan Branch Leadership Council (DPC) Hasyim and Secretary Roby Barus. DPC PDI-P Medan stated that Bobby was proven to have violated the code of ethics and discipline of party members so he did not meet the requirements to become a party member.
Also read: PDI-P Confirms Jokowi and Gibran Are No Longer PDI-P Cadres
Jokowi's political career and his family
Starting his political career in the PDI-P, Jokowi was trusted by the party to run for Mayor of Surakarta in the 2005 and 2010 elections. At the time, he was successfully elected twice. After this success, the party again trusted Jokowi to run for Governor of Jakarta in the 2012 election. Furthermore, after serving as Governor of Jakarta for two years, the party's trust continued and Jokowi was given the party's "ticket" for the presidential candidacy in the 2014 elections. In fact, a similar ticket was given to him for the 2019 elections.
The endorsement of Jokowi also contributed electorally to the PDI-P. The party with the symbol of a white-fronted bull managed to end its 10-year position as an opposition party from 2004-2014. The PDI-P's votes skyrocketed in the 2014 elections, making it the winning party. This success was repeated in the 2019 elections. As the winning party, the PDI-P has the right to hold the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, which is occupied by Puan Maharani, the daughter of Megawati Soekarnoputri.
In their second term in office, Gibran and Bobby followed in Jokowi's footsteps by entering the world of politics. PDI-P was chosen as their political vehicle.
With the name Jokowi attached to both of them, it is not difficult for them to be nominated by the party in the regional elections. Gibran ran in the 2020 Surakarta Mayoral Election (Pilwalkot) and won. The same fate was experienced by Bobby, who ran in the 2020 Medan Mayoral Election. Like their father, they have become a new electoral magnet for the PDI-P.
However, as the 2024 presidential election approaches, the political landscape is changing. Jokowi and his family began to distance themselves from PDI-P by not supporting Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD, the presidential and vice presidential candidates endorsed by PDI-P. As a result, Ganjar-Mahfud lost the election. In fact, they were greatly defeated as their vote count placed them in last position, behind Prabowo-Gibran and Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar.
However, despite this, the party was still able to maintain its success in 2014 and 2019 by becoming the winning party in the legislative elections. There is also a high chance for the party to regain the position of the speaker of the parliament.
According to Executive Director of Charta Politika, Yunarto Wijaya, the loss of Jokowi and his family indeed contributed to the defeat of the PDIP presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 2024 election. However, with the victory that can still be achieved by "the bull" in the legislative election, the party has the capital to remain a strategic political force in the future even though Jokowi and his family are no longer with the party.
With the party's vote attainment in 2024, the party has the potential to control 110 seats in the DPR or 19 percent of the total 580 DPR seats. With this victory, PDI-P locks in the position of the DPR chairman as the political party with the most seats in the DPR is entitled to control the position of chairman.
Also read: PDI-P Has the Opportunity to Reclaim the Chair of the DPR, Golkar Never Gives Up
Indications that PDI-P will still be a strategic political force after the election can at least be seen from the desire of the elected president and vice president Prabowo-Gibran to embrace PDI-P. The approach by Gerindra, the main political party supporting Prabowo-Gibran, to PDI-P has been intense even though up to now it has not been seen that there will be a meeting between Megawati and Prabowo, let alone establishing political cooperation.
Also read: Does Prabowo Miss Megawati's Fried Rice?
Not only that, history proves that parties always survive in the midst of storms.
"In the era of the New Order, this party was still small, but it survived. Then it participated in the 1999 election, and in the 2004 election, PDI-P lost to the Golkar Party in the legislative election and also became the opposition during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration until 2014. These two periods can be said to have made PDI-P small, but it still survived," said Yunarto.
Give birth to the new ”Jokowi”
The capital of PDI-P remains an important political party due to its strong ideological basis and mass infrastructure. Thus, even if Jokowi, Gibran, and Bobby are no longer with the party, it will continue to survive. However, in order to return to the peak of its glory as in the 2014 and 2019 elections, the party is required to further optimize its regeneration and candidate development.
The issue of air pollution is not a new one. The condition of the community threatened by air pollution has been ongoing for a long time. There is also no shortage of research evidence indicating the threats posed by air pollution. However, to date, these factors have not been able to prompt significant efforts to control air pollution. As a result, residents are increasingly suffering, besieged by air pollution. The regenerative fruit and cadre building that the party has enjoyed with the emergence of Jokowi and the repeated victories of the party in the 2014 and 2019 Elections must be reproduced. "PDI-P must be able to produce figures similar to Jokowi, who can achieve great things, have a political career from the bottom, have been a regional head or held public positions that are considered good by the public. By doing so, it can become a new electoral magnet for PDI-P," said Yunarto.
Regarding that matter, it is seen that PDI-P will not lack the best cadres. A number of the best cadres have been seen today, both in the central and regional executive and legislative levels. PDI-P can also use the simultaneous regional elections in 2024 to produce new "Jokowi-Jokowi" figures that could become electoral magnets in the next elections.
"The PDI-P party must maximize the opportunity of the 2024 simultaneous regional elections to search for talented individuals among their cadres who have the potential to become national leaders. This means determining the candidate selection mechanism, capturing public aspirations that will determine the quality of candidates in the regional elections, and being able to produce an effect, like the Jokowi era in the previous gubernatorial elections, that can be repeated by the PDI-P," Yunarto concluded.