Jokowi’s Intervention in Regional Head Elections

ONE thing that stands out with former President Joko Widodo is his inconsistency. A month ago, when he retired as president, he promised to go home to Solo, Central Java, and live as an ordinary person. Now, he has decided to intervene in the regional head elections.

In Jakarta, he gathered volunteers to support Ridwan Kamil and Suswono. Jokowi asked these people to act during the campaign to revive the stagnant electability of the pairing.

From the outset, Jokowi supported Ridwan for the governorship of Jakarta. Ridwan was nominated by the Golkar Party along with a number of other parties grouped under the Indonesia Onward Coalition (KIM) plus. Most of these parties are members of the coalition that supported Prabowo Subianto in the recent presidential election. Jokowi wants the Jakarta governor to have the same vision and mission as the central government.

Following pressure from Jokowi, a number of parties also expressed support for Ridwan, with the aim of keeping Anies Baswedan out of the Jakarta election. Anies was and is considered as the main threat to Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the 2029 presidential election. But Anies’ support for Pramono Anung-Rano Karno, Ridwan-Suswono’s rivals, has given the former Jakarta governor an opportunity to appear in a number of national events.

This is why Jokowi has an interest in sidelining whoever has the potential to compete against Gibran in the next presidential election. But it is possible that Jokowi has failed to consider Pramono Anung or Ridwan Kamil as potential rivals. As the governor of Jakarta, the two could easily become popular over the next five years.

If Ridwan-Suswono wins the Jakarta regional election, it will not have been easy. A number of parties that originally joined the KIM plus grouping, such as the National Democrat (NasDem) Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), have already abandoned them. From the beginning, the support from these parties lacked sincerity. Party leaders also complained about Ridwan’s elitist campaigning style. And with a fragile coalition, the party machinery cannot work properly. Ridwan-Suswono’s electability has been stagnant, and has even fallen slightly.

Polling carried out by Saiful Mujani research and consulting between October 31 and November 9 showed the electability of Ridwan Kamil-Suswono at 39.1 percent, while Pramono Anung-Rano Karno, who are supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had risen to 46 percent. The independent pairing of Dharma Pongrekun and Kun Wardana were in last place on 5.1 percent. Survey results from other organizations are similar. This is why Jokowi is pushing for a two-round election. But instead of increasing his electability, Jokowi’s support has hardened resistance towards Ridwan.

Jokowi has provided similar support for Ahmad Luthfi-Taj Yasin Maimoen in the Central Java regional election. He even asked Prabowo Subianto to support Luthfi-Yasin after their electability began to slip against that of Andika Perkasa-Hendrar Prihadi.

Prabowo’s partiality, like that of Jokowi when he was still president, is inappropriate and against the rules. Law No. 10/2016 on Elections for Governors, Regents and Mayors bans state officials from actions that benefit any candidate pairing. It is regrettable that the General Election Supervisory Agency decided that Prabowo’s video was not a violation of the rules.

A presidential preference for a particular pairing could be interpreted by subordinates as a direct order. This partiality opens the door to abuses of power, and deviates from the principles of fair and healthy political contests.

The interventions from Prabowo and Jokowi are a reflection of the weak programs of the regional head candidates. And a dependency on support from the political elite also shows their inability to obtain votes by proposing clear visions and missions. Rather than offering solutions, they are busy selling themselves using the names of the president and former president.

Prabowo Subianto should not parrot Jokowi’s wishes. Going along with Jokowi’s desire to sideline potential rivals to Gibran in the 2029 General Elections could put an end to Prabowo’s chance to serve for two terms. Aside from matters of political competition, if he does not intervene in the regional elections, Prabowo will be respected for honoring the Constitution and the principles of democracy.