Jokow (right) speaks with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto (left) as Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo looks on during a visit on March 9 to check the main rice harvest in Lajer village, Kebumen regency, Central Java. - Presidential Secretariat's Press Bureau This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Jokowi still wants Prabowo-Ganjar tie-up: ProJo head". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/05/26/jokowi-still-wants-prabowo-ganjar-tie-up-projo-head.html. Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access: Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Budi Arie Setiadi, the head of ProJo, one of the most prominent groups of Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo supporters, says that the president is still trying to bridge the political divide between presidential hopefuls Ganjar Pranowo and Prabowo Subianto to pair off the two electability poll frontrunners as a 2024 ticket.
Speaking candidly in an interview with Kompas.com on Wednesday (May 24), Budi said Jokowi had long considered that a pairing of Defence Minister and Gerindra Party chair Prabowo and Central Java Governor Ganjar, a fellow Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member, would be “ideal” for the 2024 presidential election.
“Whether it is Prabowo-Ganjar or Ganjar-Prabowo, [the President] wants these two figures to [join forces],” Budi says in the interview, which was uploaded on Thursday to the Kompas.com YouTube channel.
“If we look at the current dynamics now, things have become complicated. But [Jokowi] is still trying. There are still five months left” until registration opens for presidential candidates, and the President was still making efforts toward this union, he said.
Pairing off the two figures as a single presidential ticket has grown increasingly unlikely since Ganjar’s surprise presidential nomination over last month’s Idul Fitri holiday weekend.
Gerindra politician Desmond Mahesa recently stressed that talks with the PDI-P toward this end would be “pointless” unless Ganjar settled for being Prabowo’s running mate.
Asked whether the President had a preference between the two presidential hopefuls, Budi replied that Jokowi was still keeping his options open during the ongoing alliance-building efforts.
“In Ganjar’s case, for instance, there are only two legislative parties supporting him, the PDI-P and the United Development Party [PPP],” which meant Ganjar’s bid would be an uphill climb, Budi said.
During the ProJo-led Musyawarah Rakyat (Musra), or people’s discussion, earlier this month, Jokowi supporters deemed that Ganjar and Prabowo, along with Coordinating Economic Minister and Golkar Party head Airlangga Hartarto, would be ideal successors to the President.
While Jokowi did not tell his supporters who to vote for during the Musra, saying that his only responsibility was to convey their aspirations to political parties, in recent weeks he has been facing growing criticisms from politicians and observers alike for actively interfering in the hunt for his successor
Firing back at the President’s critics, Budi said Jokowi had not overstepped his presidential bounds.
“When we’re talking about practical politics, everything is relative,” he said.
“As the head of government, Jokowi knows his boundaries. [That’s why] he is not openly endorsing [anyone]”.
An opinion survey early this month suggests that a majority of Indonesians believe Ganjar to be the figure most likely to continue with the programmes of the current administration if he wins in 2024.
The same survey shows that most respondents view opposition figure Anies Baswedan, who defeated Jokowi’s handpicked successor as Jakarta governor in 2017, as most likely to seek to undo the President’s policies.
The telephone survey was conducted by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) from May 2 to 5 and involved 925 respondents on the issues of regime change and continuity.
According to the results published on May 8, some 58 per cent of the respondents believe that Ganjar will continue Jokowi’s programmes, while only 22 per cent believe he will undermine the President’s legacy.
This is diametrically opposed to the respondents’ perception of Anies, with just 27 per cent believing he will continue the President’s programs and 47 per cent believing Anies will change Jokowi’s policies.
