Facts About The Presidential Decree (2): Ganjar Pranowo And The Forgotten Rejection Of The Israeli National Team

Ganjar Pranowo gave a public lecture at FISIP University of Indonesia, Depok, September 18, 2023. (Special)

JAKARTA - Ganjar Pranowo had become an enemy of football lovers in Indonesia. His attitude against the Israel National Team in the U-20 World Cup celebration was the cause.

Because Ganjar refused the arrival of the Israeli national team, the Indonesian people compactly issued an oath so that the PDI-P politician failed during the 2024 Presidential Election.

However, a Political Observer from Universita Al Azhar Indonesia, Andriadi Achmad, said that the nature of the Indonesian people who easily forgive could be one of the saviors of Ganjar from the hot issue of the rejection of the Israeli national team. However, the former Governor of Central Java needs to be aware of his alleged involvement in e-KTP corruption in the political year ahead of next year's presidential election.

Ganjar Pranowo chose to be a PDI-P sympathizer since the 1990s, even when he was still a Gadjah Mada University student, even though his father was a police officer and his brother was a judge. Whereas during the New Order era, all public officials were prohibited from politics and had to fully support Golkar.

He then started his political career as a member of the DPR-RI for the 2004-2009 period, although initially he did not qualify in the 2004 elections. He accepted the task of changing time (PAW) to replace his party mate, Jakob Tobing, who was assigned by the president at the time, Megawati Soekarnoputri as ambassador to South Korea.

Ganjar served his duties as a member of the DPR-RI for two terms, before finally advancing in the General Election of the Governor of Central Java in 2013. Promoted by PDI-P, Ganjar, who was paired with Heru Sudjatmoko, won with a total vote of 48.82 percent. The man who was born on October 28, 1968, then won the second Central Java gubernatorial election for the 2018-2023 period.

Along the way, Ganjar's career often encounters obstacles. Ganjar was accused of being involved in the case of the Bank Indonesia (BI) fund flow in his first period in the DPR. He did not deny that Ganjar Prastowo's name in the list of recipients of the flow of funds was him. However, he firmly stated that he was ready to return the money in full if found guilty.

Ganjar Pranowo's name has returned to being a topic of conversation. Ganjar is suspected of being involved in the corruption case of an electronic-based Identity Card or e-KTP. This was revealed by a former Democratic Party politician, Muhammad Nazarudin, when he was a witness in the case.

However, until 2018 the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) stated that it did not yet have evidence that Ganjar received money in the e-KTP corruption case. This was revealed by former senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan in a broadcast on his YouTube channel.

"On many occasions I dared to speak that the fulfillment of the evidence has not yet entered the standard of proof. Why can I say that? Yes, my investigators, I know better," said Novel.

Novel Baswedan himself was involved in handling cases that cost the state up to Rp2.3 trillion.

Later, in January 2022, Ganjar was again reported to the KPK regarding the e-KTP corruption case. This report was carried out by Adhie Massardi and his friends from the National Axis of Corruption Eradication (PNPK), amid the issue that Ganjar would run in the 2024 presidential election from PDI-P.

Political observer Ade Reza Haryadi said that the e-KTP issue has the potential to become the subject of a black campaign to attack Ganjar Pranowo needs to be in the 2024 presidential election by his political opponents. But he considered Ganjar's electability was not affected by the issue.

"If there is no such thing (black campaign), then there will be no significant impact on Ganjar's electability. If you look at the amount of survey results, I don't think it is significant enough to affect Pak Ganjar Pranowo's electoral potential," said Reza, Saturday (2/9/2023).

In addition to the issue of the involvement of e-KTP corruption which continues to overshadow Ganjar Pranowo, his decision to reject the arrival of the Israeli national team to Indonesia at the U-20 World Cup some time ago was also considered to have helped tarnish the name of the man who graduated from Gadjah Mada University.

As is known, Indonesia was officially appointed by FIFA to host the U-20 World Cup on December 24, 2020 after the tournament was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The wave of rejection by the Israeli national team to Indonesia flowed heavily several weeks before the kick-off tournament. Together with the Governor of Bali I Wayan Koster, Ganjar Pranowo, who was still the Governor of Central Java, firmly expressed his rejection of Israel's arrival to Indonesia.

Ganjar's rejection continues to be fried by the media. There is an assumption that Ganjar took this attitude because of the party's order where he belongs, PDI-P. This moment also made the public increasingly convinced that Ganjar was only a party official who could not refuse the PDI-P's ambitions.

But Ganjar emphasized that his attitude of rejecting Israel was related to the mandate of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, although in the end he apologized to the U-20 Indonesian national team for canceling the right to host.

Ganjar's attitude, which openly rejects Israel from coming to Indonesia, has reduced its electability ahead of the 2024 presidential election. In April 2023, electability was 26.9 percent and was ranked second, losing to Prabowo Subianto. Whereas in February, Ganjar Pranowo had 35 percent electability according to a report by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).

"There is a possibility that Ganjar Pranowo's statement regarding the Israeli national team, resulting in the cancellation of the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, became clear behind the decline in Ganjar's support base," the LSI report said in April.

However, Political Observer Andriadi Achmad said that most Indonesians quickly forget cases like those experienced by Ganjar Pranowo. So it is not surprising, even though the electability of the former Governor of Central Java had declined after the rejection of the Israeli national team, his name is now starting to climb and compete fiercely with Presidential Decree Prabowo Subianto.

When Ganjar refused Israel, his popularity decreased drastically. His electability decreased. But after a few months, after being declared, the public quickly forgot about the case," Andriadi told VOI.

That's why in Indonesia there are so many cases of ex-convict candidates who dare to run. Because our society is easy to forget, easy to forgive past cases, including the case of Ganjar rejecting Israel.

Andriadi said that the 2024 election campaign which will be held from 28 November 2023 to 10 February 2024 will be used for the presidential readings to win the electoral hearts.

Our memory of society is very short. When the campaign will become an important moment, during the three months of the campaign it must take people's days," Andriadi said again.