On the Rumor about Golkar Party
There is an ongoing rumor about an internal friction inside the Golkar Party. The friction is rumored to be centered at the nomination of Airlangga Hartarto, the chairman of Golkar, for the next year’s presidential election. There is also a rumor that Golkar might hold a Munaslub, or an extraordinary congress, with the aim to cancel Airlangga’s nomination and to shift the Party’s endorsement for another figure instead. Airlangga, however, has denied such rumor.
Jokowi Meets with Prabowo Once More
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held a meeting with the Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, who is also the chairman of Gerindra Party, at the State Palace Jakarta on Monday (July 10). This is the fourth meeting between the President and Prabowo in the last six weeks.
Sandiaga & 2024 Race
Sandiaga Uno, former politician from Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party, has been appointed as the new head of the PPP’s election victory body (Bappilu). With this position, Sandi has a huge responsibility to help PPP perform better in the 2024 legislative election regardless of whether or not he becomes Ganjar Pranowo’s running mate in the presidential election.
Muhaimin & 2024 Race
Chairman of the Islamic Party PKB Muhaimin Iskandar, who is also the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), held a meeting with the Chairman of Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto, who is also the minister of defense, on Sunday (July 9). PKB has formed a coalition with Gerindra since August 2022 and Muhaimin is seeking to become Prabowo’s running mate in the next year’s presidential election, but there’s no agreement yet on the matter.
SBY Continues Promoting His Son to Anies
Around 170 retired high-ranking military and police officers that are associated with the so-called Forum Purnawirawan Perwira Tinggi TNI/POLRI untuk Perubahan (FP3) declared their endorsement for Anies Baswedan. Interestingly, they promoted Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), the eldest son of the sixth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), to become Anies’ running mate and they also pushed Anies to soon announce the running mate.
Jokowi’s Papua Visit (2)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has visited Papua Island on Thursday (July 6). This is the second time Jokowi visited Papua in the last three months. The visit is worth highlighting in light of the next year’s elections.
Ridwan Kamil & 2024 Race
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.
Erick Thohir & 2024 Race
Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), met with Ganjar Pranowo, a presidential hopeful from the ruling party PDIP, on Wednesday (July 5). Erick is rumored to be one of the potential running mate candidates for Ganjar. Other than Ganjar, Erick has also been mentioned as the potential running mate for Prabowo Subianto, a presidential hopeful from Gerindra Party.
Ganjar’s Running Mate: Announcement Day
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.
Johnny Plate’s Ridiculous Exception
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.