Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri delivering a speech on May 24, 2024, at the party's national meeting. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA: Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday (Aug 22) said the party might support Anies Baswedan to run in the Jakarta gubernatorial race if he is willing to follow the party’s lead.
Megawati made the remarks during the party’s announcement of a list of candidates for the November regional head elections in some provinces such as Bali and dozens of cities and regencies.
But the largest party in the House of Representatives has yet to reveal its candidates for battleground provinces in Java, such as Jakarta.
“Is it true that he [Anies] wants to be [on the ticket] of the PDI-P? If so, is [he] willing to conform?” she asked.
PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said that Megawati had no personal issue with anyone, and only wanted to ensure that potential candidates aligned with the party’s principles and ideology of siding with the poor.
“If these criteria can be met, we are certainly open to collaborating [with Anies],” Hasto added.
The PDI-P has repeatedly said that it prefers to nominate its own members rather than outsiders.
But PDI-P lawmaker Masinton Pasaribu previously expressed the possibility of his party nominating Anies for the Jakarta race in November.
“God willing, there will be Anies [on the ballot, running on our ticket]. If the PDI-P nominates Anies, help us to ensure that we can register him with the General Elections Commission [KPU] Jakarta office,” he said, as quoted from Antara.
Despite not being a member of any political party, Anies remains the frontrunner in Jakarta, with his former rival in the previous Jakarta race, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama of the PDI-P, in second place, according to various polls.
But Anies was unable to register to appear on the city’s ballot for the November election because the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB), his three initial backers, shifted their support to former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil of Golkar Party.
This came after Golkar and other political parties allied with president-elect Prabowo Subianto and outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo brought the three parties into their fold in an attempt to block Anies’ reelection bid.
The PDI-P is the only party with seats in the Jakarta legislature that is not part of the coalition of 10 parties backing Ridwan and his running mate Suswono of the PKS.
Despite being the second-largest party in the city, the PDI-P does not meet the minimum requirement of 20 seats in the Jakarta legislature – as mandated by the General Elections Law – to register a candidate pair on its own with the poll agency next.
But the Constitutional Court on Tuesday revoked the legislative seat threshold and introduced a new, lower threshold based on popular vote instead. This effectively makes the PDI-P eligible to field its own candidate without the need to form an alliance with other parties, potentially opening the door for Anies to run.
Political expert Ujang Komarudin said that Anies' chances of running in the upcoming regional election on the PDI-P ticket are still fifty-fifty.
“Even if the PDI-P supports Anies, they might require him to join the party as a member. The question is whether Anies is willing to do that,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
“However, if the PDI-P wants a stronger chance of winning, they should nominate Anies as their candidate for governor and a party member for vice governor." - The Jakarta Post/ANN
