2 days ago
Former Indonesian president Jokowi signals interest in leading PSI over PPP
Jakarta motorists drive on Jan 18, 2024, past a campaign banner for legislative candidate Grace Natalie Louisa from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) that also features party chair Kaesang Pangarep (right, top) and his father, then-president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. - Photo: AFP file
JAKARTA: Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has dismissed speculation that he could be in the running to lead the United Development Party (PPP), instead indicating a preference for the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) led by his youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep.
Speaking to reporters on Friday (June 6) at his residence in Surakarta, Central Java, the former president, who is currently not a card-carrying member of any party, suggested others were better suited to helm the PPP, the nation's oldest Islamic party.
'There are many candidates within the PPP who are far better, have the competence and capacity for the role,' Jokowi said, as quoted by
The PPP is currently preparing to hold its national congress, where it plans to elect a new chairman in hopes of staging a comeback after its resounding defeat in the 2024 legislative election that left it with zero seats in the House of Representatives.
It was the party's first election loss since it was formed in 1973.
Jokowi had been touted as a potential contender in the PPP's upcoming leadership race alongside other party outsiders, such as vocal government critic and losing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman and former Army chief of staff Dudung Abdurachman.
Instead, the ex-president has indicated he is leaning toward the PSI, another small party that also failed to win any seats in the national legislature last year.
A self-styled youth party that has been a staunch supporter of Jokowi since his first presidential bid in 2014, the PSI is set to hold its Pemilihan Raya (grand election) on July 19 in Surakarta and has publicly welcomed Jokowi to run for chairman.
'I'll just go with PSI,' Jokowi said on Friday.
Jokowi has been cozying up to several political parties amid questions about his continued political relevance after his two-term presidency ended last year and his expulsion from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the political vehicle that had backed him for over two decades. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
