Indonesian Solidarity Party chairman Kaesang Pangarep and his wife Erina Gudono pose during a campaign rally for the 2024 general election in Malang, East Java, on Feb 1, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: The youth-oriented Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) plans to nominate its chairman Kaesang Pangarep, who is also the son of outgoing President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, as candidate in the next Jakarta gubernatorial election in November.
Chairman of the PSI faction at the Jakarta Legislative Council William Aditya Sarana said that if Kaesang met all the administrative requirements he would certainly be nominated.
"In my opinion, he is the best figure [to run]," William said, as quoted by Antara. William added that one of the considerations for naming Kaesang as gubernatorial candidate was that after five years of Anies Baswedan as governor, the capital needed leadership in the mould of Jokowi, who served briefly as Jakarta governor before running as president in 2014.
"We all remember in 2012, when he ran as governor, Jokowi instilled hope in people," William said.
Jokowi served as Jakarta governor for two years between 2012 and 2014 and was later replaced by his deputy Basuki Tjahaja 'Ahok' Purnama.
Ahok lost to Anies in 2016 in his bid for reelection and was sent to prison for a blasphemous statement he made while serving as governor.
In the next gubernatorial election, the PSI also plans to nominate one of its most senior politicians Grace Natalie, if Kaesang is not available. The PSI leadership considers the former TV anchor one of the most popular politicians in Indonesian politics today.
Although the PSI failed to reach the legislative threshold of 4 per cent of the popular vote, Grace was one of a handful of politicians who secured the largest number of votes in the legislative race.
Grace, who ran in an electoral district of West and North Jakarta, won more than 193,000 votes and could have won a seat in the House if the PSI had met the legislative threshold.
"This indicates that Grace won the voters' trust," William said.
Kaesang was previously mooted as a candidate for mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, to replace his older brother Gibran Rakabuming Raka, president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s running mate in the Feb 14 presidential election.
Kaesang’s wife Erina Gudono’s name has also been raised with regard to the election in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta. It was suggested that the Gerindra Party would endorse her. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
