Politics

Bahlil Lahadalia, who will likely soon be elected chairman of Golkar Party, is scheduled to be appointed new minister of energy & mineral resources, replacing Arifin Tasrif, a professional known close to PDI-P, the largest political party in the country.

Hasto Kristiyanto, the secretary general of PDIP, played an audio recording in front of journalists on Aug. 17, in which he claimed that the outgoing President Jokowi wants to use law enforcement agencies to intimidate people. Later, it is found out that the circulated audio recording played by Hasto was a small part of Jokowi’s speech delivered during the National Coordination Meeting (Rakornas) of the Central Government and the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) from five years ago in 2019.

Muhaimin Iskandar has confirmed the joining of PKB into Prabowo Subianto’s coalition on Sunday (Aug. 18). PKB, which is the largest Islamic party strongly affiliated to the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), will be present today (Aug. 19) in the declaration event of Ridwan Kamil, a Jakarta governor candidate from Prabowo’s coalition.

Three more parties (Nasdem, PPP & Perindo) have just joined Prabowo’s coalition. It looks like PKB and PKS will soon join the coalition as well. With this development, it is almost certain that Anies Baswedan won’t be able to get a ticket to run in this year’s gubernatorial election in Jakarta.

PPP, a small Islamic party that is strongly affiliated to the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), and Perindo, another small party controlled by media mogul Hary Tanoesoedibjo, are following Nasdem, a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh, to join Prabowo’s coalition and to support the next administration. Prabowo is now waiting for PKB and PKS to join his coalition as well.

PDIP, the largest political party in the country, officially announced its pick for this year’s simultaneous regional elections in an event held at the Party’s new headquarters in Jalan Diponegoro, Menteng, Central Jakarta on Wednesday (Aug. 14). The Party, however, has yet to announce its pick for gubernatorial elections in key provinces such as Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Central Java, and Banten.

The matriarch of PDIP Megawati Soekarnoputri addressed many issues during her speech on Wednesday (Aug. 14) when PDIP announcing its regional head candidates for this year’s simultaneous regional elections. One of them is about the leadership of PDIP, in which she said that she will delay her retirement and continue leading the Party.

Apart from all the hullabaloo over the leadership of Golkar Party, the rumor of a cabinet reshuffle is reemerging. It is said that the outgoing President Jokowi will make changes into four ministerial positions, and he also hinted at the reshuffle during his visit in the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara on Tuesday (Aug. 13).

Pretty much as predicted in a previous article, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has been appointed as the acting chairman of Golkar replacing Airlangga Hartarto in the Golkar’s plenary meeting held last night (Aug. 13). The meeting also resulted in a decision that Golkar won’t hold an extraordinary congress (Munaslub), but the Party will accelerate its chairmanship congress (Munas) from December to Aug. 20. All signs are pointing to Bahlil Lahadalia, who is known very close to the outgoing President Jokowi and also has a good relationship with President-elect Prabowo Subianto, as the new chairman of Golkar in the upcoming Munas.

PKB, the largest Islamic party in the country, confirmed that the Party will join forces with Gerindra, a political party led by President-elect Prabowo Subianto, in this year’s gubernatorial elections in major provinces such as Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java. PKB will also announce the joining of the Party into Prabowo-Gibran’s coalition to support the next administration during the Party’s chairmanship congress on Aug. 25.