2024 Presidential Election: Ganjar Pranowo Must Be Alert To Attacks Through Poverty Issues

JAKARTA - Algebraic Executive Director Strategic Arifki Chaniago sees the need for a presidential candidate (readpres) Ganjar Pranowo to anticipate the issue of poverty which may become an "attack" ahead of the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres).

Therefore, he asked Ganjar, who is currently the Governor of Central Java, to explain his performance in reducing poverty in Central Java.

"So, the point that is quite interesting, I see is that (the figure) of poverty in Central Java is whether the stepping stone or the benchmark of Ganjar's performance or what. This is what we need to see first," said Arifki in a statement quoted by Antara in Jakarta, Sunday, September 3, 2023.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) noted that in September 2013 the percentage of poor people in Central Java was 14.44 percent, while in March 2023 the percentage of poor people in Central Java was 10.77 percent.

Arifki assessed that the Central Java government's efforts to reduce the number of poor people had not been maximized so that the potential for bullets to attack Ganjar in the 2024 presidential election.

According to him, the issue of poverty in Central Java could affect Ganjar's electability level, which has been promoted as a presidential candidate by the PDI-P.

Therefore, he considered that Ganjar before ending his tenure on September 5, 2023, needed to explain his performance to the community, not only about overcoming poverty, but also other things.

"So, in certain parts it is good. However, the poverty segment is still increasing. Therefore, I see this is still a challenge for Ganjar and needs to explain to the public," he said.

Previously, Ganjar said that his government was focusing on reducing extreme poverty in 17 priority districts, namely Banjarnegara, Banyumas, Blora, Brebes, Cilacap, Demak, Grobogan, Kebumen, Klaten, Magelang, Pemalang, Purbalingga, Purworejo, Rembang, Sragen, Wonogiri, and Wonosobo.

One way is to collaborate with village officials to encourage labor-intensive programs.

"Because of some of these villages, this budget was executed with labor-intensive models so that many people worked," said Ganjar.