BRIN researchers say these 2 political parties are suitable as Jokowi ports – 2024-05-12 21:08:35

President Joko Widodo when he was first elected as president in 2014. (Dok. MI/Ramdani)

AFTER being no longer recognized by the PDI Perjuangan (PDIP), President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is considered to have to join another political party (parpol) if he wants to continue to be influential and maintain the support of the mass base. Senior researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Lili Romli said that Jokowi must occupy a strategic position in the new party, for example as general chairman or chairman of the advisory board.

For him, there are two political parties that are suitable for Jokowi to anchor, namely the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) or the Gerindra Party. Lili believes that PSI is right for Jokowi because currently the party is led by Jokowi’s youngest son, namely Kaesang Pangarep. Therefore, there is no resistance for PSI to reject Jokowi as party leader.

“Meanwhile, Gerindra was instrumental in leading Pak Prabowo to become President (elected as a result of the 2024 presidential election),” said Lili to Media Indonesia, Wednesday (8/5).

In the 2024 presidential election contest, Jokowi appears to be supporting Prabowo and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who incidentally is his eldest son. Prabowo is Minister of Defense and General Chair of the Gerindra Party. Meanwhile, as a PDI Perjuangan cadre, he was never seen supporting the Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md pair.

Lili said Jokowi might also join the Golkar Party which also supports Prabowo-Gibran. However, the road to occupying the highest peak of the banyan party is quite steep. Because Jokowi will likely face resistance.

“Because he hasn’t been a member for five years, unless the AD/ART is changed (for Jokowi’s sake),” explained Lili.

Also read: Gerindra Welcomes Bobby Nasution’s Support for Prabowo-Gibran

Meanwhile, he believes that it is difficult for Jokowi to keep the PDI Perjuangan flag. This is because bull party cadres often consider Jokowi not to be a PDI Perjuangan cadre. According to Lili, the negative sentiments of PDI Perjuangan cadres may have been approved by Megawati Soekarnoputri as general chair.

“(Jokowi’s) political step in defecting from the PDI Perjuangan seems to have really hurt Mrs. Megawati and the PDI Perjuangan cadres who stand upright to Mrs. Megawati,” concluded Lili.

(Z-9)