PDI-P says no to Jokowi for national meeting, amid ongoing tensions between president and his former party
Indonesia's Democratic Party of Struggle have also made allegations of misconduct over the recent presidential election, when their candidate Ganjar Pranowo lost in a landslide to Mr Prabowo Subianto who was seen as favoured by Mr Jokowi.
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JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has confirmed that President Joko Widodo will not be invited to its three-day national conference, the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) beginning on Friday (May 24).
PDI-P is the current ruling party, and is set to make way for President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s coalition when parliament begins its new session following his inauguration on Oct 20.
Mr Widodo, who is popularly known as Jokowi, was formerly a cadre of the PDI-P. His membership is considered to have lapsed after he failed to support the party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the February presidential election.
Media outlet Kompas.com quoted PDI-P secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto as saying that the party extends invitations only to individuals committed to upholding Indonesian democracy and the rule of law.
"Those who are invited are those who have the spirit to uphold democracy and rule of law ... which is sovereign to the people,” he said at a May 22 press conference.
When asked while on a visit to flood-hit West Sumatra, President Jokowi said that journalists should ask PDI-P about his absence from the event.
According to media reports, PDI-P is likely to announce on the final day of the Rakernas whether it will join Mr Prabowo’s incoming ruling coalition or decide to be in the opposition camp.
PDI-P AND JOKOWI’S HISTORY
On May 22, Mr Hasto also criticised the conduct of the recent presidential election, where the party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo lost in a landslide against Mr Prabowo.
Describing the election as the most ‘brutal’ in the history of Indonesian democracy, Mr Hasto said the run-up was marked by various forms of cheating.
He said this began with the manipulation of law, which allowed Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi's eldest son, to stand as a vice-presidential running mate for Mr Prabowo.
Mr Gibran's candidacy was made possible by a controversial top court ruling, presided over by his uncle, former chief justice Anwar Usman.
Previously, Indonesia’s election law mandated that all presidential and vice-presidential candidates be at least 40 years old.
However, the constitutional court amended this clause, allowing candidates who had been elected to regional posts to stand in the presidential election regardless of their age, paving the way for the 36-year-old Mr Gibran, who is mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, to join the race.
Political observers noted that it was after this that Mr Jokowi’s relationship with PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri began to sour.
The president’s tacit endorsement of Mr Prabowo during the presidential election campaigns further angered PDI-P, with many of the president’s critics accusing him and his supporters of misusing government institutions and state-sponsored social assistance programmes to benefit Mr Prabowo.
Prior to the February election, President Jokowi had been backed by the PDI-P from the beginning of his political career as mayor of Surakarta and subsequently as the governor of Jakarta in 2012.
With PDI-P’s support, Mr Jokowi, who does not come from the traditional military and business elite backgrounds of political leaders, achieved the climax of his political career by winning the presidential elections twice in 2014 and 2019.
In both the elections, the former furniture businessman defeated Mr Prabowo twice with the solid backing of PDI-P’s party machinery.
However the complete split between the president and PDI-P was confirmed when the party announced last month that both Mr Jokowi and Mr Gibran were no longer members.
Mr Komarudin Watubun, head of the ethics division of the PDI-P, told Reuters that both were not expelled from the party but their membership ceased when they decided not to endorse Mr Ganjar.
"They decided to be on the opposite side," Komarudin said, adding that whatever has happened, Mr Jokowi had already reached his professional peak through being the country’s president twice.
He added that the party would like to preserve his honour as the nation’s leader.
Before Mr Jokowi and Mr Gibran's membership ended, PDI-P fired Mr Jokowi’s son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, in November 2023.
Mr Nasution, currently serving his first term as the mayor of Medan, Indonesia’s fourth-largest city, officially joined Mr Prabowo’s The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) earlier this week.
The 32-year-old is expected to contest the North Sumatra governorship with Gerindra's backing.
