STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Anies Baswedan officially will not run in the 2024 Regional Elections, not in Jakarta or West Java gubernatorial elections. PDIP has decided to register Jeje Wiradinata and Ronal Surapradja for the West Java gubernatorial cadidates to the General Election Commission (KPU). KPU official Idham Holik on Thursday emphasized that political parties or coalitions of political parties can only support one prospective candidate pair.
Gerindra Party’s National Leadership Meeting at President-elect and chairman Prabowo Subianto’s residence in Hambalang, Bogor, focused on ensuring the success of the incoming Prabowo-Gibran Rakabuming Raka administration. Per Secretary General Ahmad Muzani, the closed-door meeting is the party’s highest decision-making forum after the congress.
During the Gerindra Party’s National Working Meeting, President-elect and Chair Prabowo Subianto praised the performance of ministers in the Jokowi-Ma’ruf administration. Prabowo also requested Jokowi’s permission to return some ministers to their positions in the Prabowo-Gibran cabinet.
Made Supriatma, Visiting Fellow in the Indonesia Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute said the announcement of former Golkar general chairman Airlangga Hartarto’s resignation on 10 August was met with what could be described as “unsurprised surprise”. Rumours had already been circulating for the past year about a potential takeover of this New Order-era party by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s allies. This is largely because Jokowi does not have his own political party, and any outgoing president needs a strong political base to support his post-presidential ambitions and relevance.
Throughout his political career, Jokowi had relied on support from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). However, relations between him and PDI-P soured in the final year of his administration. This tension stems from PDI-P’s refusal to support earlier aspirations of Jokowi’s allies for him to have a third term or to extend his term, and, perhaps the final straw, his turning to Prabowo Subianto after PDI-P’s lack of support for his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as a vice-presidential candidate.
Nine out of 76 candidates in the running to become Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) members for the 2024 – 2029 period are politicians from political parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition Plus (KIM Plus) supporting president-elect Prabowo Subianto. The final decision on the new BPK members will be made later in September and will be sealed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, whose term will end in less than two months.
The nine candidates are Muhammad Misbakhun and Bobby Adhityo Rizaldi from the Golkar Party, Hendrik Halomoan Sitompul and Wahyu Sanjaya from the Democratic Party, Mulfachri Harahap and Jon Erizal from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Eva Yuliana and Hasbi Anshori from the NasDem Party and lastly Fathan Subchi from the National Awakening Party (PKB). Three of the nine candidates are included among the list of 10 candidates selected by the Regional Representative Council (DPD). They are Misbakhun, Jon Erizal and Hasbi Anshory.
