West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil, who is now the deputy chairman of Golkar Party, visited Yogyakarta on Wednesday (July 5), where he gave a speech in the Gadjah Mada University (UGM), the alma mater of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and presidential hopeful from the ruling party PDIP Ganjar Pranowo. The visit is worth highlighting because Ridwan has been rumored as one of the potential running mate candidates for Ganjar.

The Secretary General of the ruling party PDIP, Hasto Kristiyanto, told the press on Tuesday (July 4) that Megawati Soekarnoputri will announce the running mate for Ganjar Pranowo in September 2023. With this statement, we can safely say that the race for becoming Ganjar’s running mate is still wide open. 

The disgraced former ICT Minister Johnny G Plate, through his lawyer, conveyed his exception on Tuesday (July 4) in a trial of the BAKTI case, the case of alleged corruption related to a project at the ICT Ministry that is estimated to have caused a state loss more than Rp8 trillion. In his exception, Johnny Plate rejected the prosecutors’ indictment and he ridiculously argued that the BAKTI project was an instruction from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, not his own initiative. Johnny is also former secretary general of Nasdem, a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh. Let’s talk a bit about his exception and its implications to Paloh and Nasdem Party.

Prabowo Subianto, a presidential hopeful from Gerindra Party, had an exclusive interview with Najwa Shihab in which the retired general addressed many important issues, including about Ganjar Pranowo, whom he wished to become his running mate in the next year’s presidential election. In fact, Prabowo stated that he leaves the door open for the possibility of running with Ganjar if the Central Java Governor is willing to become a running mate.

Ganjar Pranowo, a presidential hopeful from the ruling party PDIP, met with Sandiaga Uno in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia before his departure for Indonesia after completing a Hajj pilgrimage. Sandi, who left Prabowo’s Gerindra Party to join the Islamic party PPP, is one of the potential candidates who has been mentioned by PDIP to become Ganjar’s running mate. 

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently told the press that he has already pocketed a name for the replacement of Johnny G Plate, a former ICT minister who is named as graft suspect and detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The President stated that he’s waiting for the right momentum to make the announcement. Will there be another round of cabinet reshuffle soon? Will Jokowi only announce Johnny Plate’s replacement or make some other changes into his cabinet instead?

There has been speculation following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s recent intensive meetings with the Chairman of Gerindra Prabowo Subianto, who is also the defense minister. Some observers speculate that the meetings are strong signal of the President’s potential endorsement for Prabowo in the next year’s presidential election. Let’s talk a bit about this speculation.