Anwar Usman Out, Gibran Stays: What’s Next?
The Ethics Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) dismissed Anwar Usman from his position as the chief justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) after proven guilty in committing heavy ethics violations. The MKMK, however, cannot cancel the MK’s ruling No. 90/PUU-XXI/2023 and therefore Gibran Rakabuming Raka, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son, remains eligible to enter 2024 race as Prabowo Subianto’s running mate.
Prabowo-Gibran Campaign Team
Last night, Nov. 6, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended the 59th anniversary event of Golkar Party, which was also attended by Prabowo Subianto. Golkar is one of the key members of Jokowi’s ruling coalition as well as Prabowo’s supporting coalition for the 2024 presidential election. A few hours earlier, Prabowo and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is President Jokowi’s eldest son, officially announced the lineup of their national campaign team for 2024 race.
Ganjar Overtakes Prabowo, But…
A new survey result from Charta Politika shows that Ganjar Pranowo has reclaimed the lead from Prabowo Subianto, but only with a razor-thin margin. The survey also found that Prabowo is still leading Ganjar in a head-to-head simulation but with substantially smaller margin than the previous survey. This is the first electability survey after the Constitutional Court (MK) ruled in favor of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and he becomes Prabowo’s running mate.
The Next Lemhanas Governor
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has yet to appoint a new governor of the respected National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) following the resignation of Andi Widjajanto, who is now a member of Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD’s national campaign team. Will the President appoint another civilian and academician or a military general to lead the Lemhanas during the 2024 election year?
Jokowi-PDIP: What Went Wrong?
The Secretary General of the ruling party PDIP, Hasto Kristiyanto, revealed about a meeting held on March 18, 2023 between the PDIP Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, in which both figures agreed on nominating Ganjar Pranowo as presidential candidate for 2024 race, but it seems that the President has changed his mind. We are now wondering what changed Jokowi.
Investigating Constitutional Justices: Implications?
The Ethics Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) has finished the examination of all nine constitutional justices on Thursday (Nov. 2). There are 11 issues of ethics violations allegedly committed by the justices that had been investigated by the MKMK. The question is, what will be the conclusion from the MKMK? What are the legal and political implications that may come with the MKMK’s conclusion?
Maruli’s Meeting with Pratikno
The Commander of the Army’s Elite Force Kostrad (Pangkostrad) Lt. Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak, who is the son-in-law of General (ret) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, recently met with the State Secretary Minister Pratikno. Maruli gave an update on Luhut’s condition to Pratikno, but considering the timing of the meeting perhaps they also discussed something else, such as the Army Chief (KSAD) position.
Securing Ridwan Kamil & Khofifah
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has kicked off the groundbreaking of some development projects in the new capital city Nusantara in East Kalimantan on Wednesday (Nov. 1). Interestingly, former West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil accompanied the President during the groundbreaking events. In the meantime, the campaign manager of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Rosan Roeslani, and Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia, who is also Prabowo-Gibran’s supporter, met with East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa last night in Surabaya, East Java. These two separate events in East Kalimantan and East Java are just part of Jokowi’s effort to ensure the victory of his son.
On Erick Thohir’s Support to Prabowo
The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir, who is ad-interim coordinating minister for maritime & investment affairs, expressed his support for Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential race. The support from Erick Thohir, whose name dropped in the last minute as running mate of Prabowo to give way to Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming, was expressed when he met with Prabowo at his residence on Tuesday (Oct. 31).
On Ongoing Investigation of Constitutional Justices
The Ethics Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) continues its hearing to investigate the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman and the other eight constitutional justices over allegation of ethics violations in a controversial ruling related to the age limit of presidential and vice-presidential candidates. This hearing is truly worth highlighting because whatever the conclusion will be, it may affect the dynamics of 2024 race.