Observers Say, PKS Should Start Legawa Gibran Against Empty Boxes In Pilwalkot Solo

JAKARTA - The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is asked to accept the situation if President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) 's son is finally running in the 2020 Solo Mayor Election, Gibran Rakabuming Raka and his running mate, Teguh Prakosa, must fight an empty box. This is because it is unlikely that he will get an opponent after all the parties in the Solo City DPRD have declared their support for him except for PKS.

"PKS certainly has to start relieved. ... with Gibran's (support, red) declared by all parties that have seats in the Surakarta City DPRD, it indicates the closed opportunity for PKS to find coalition friends and find Gibran's opponents through party channels," said the observer. Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Aisah Putri Budiarti when contacted by VOI, Thursday, August 14.

He assessed that PKS also seemed not to have prepared its consolidation with other parties carefully since the start of the 2020 Pilkada. Because, the party seemed busy and rushed at the last minute to present an opponent for Gibran.

Furthermore, Putri said that Gibran still has the opportunity not to compete with empty boxes if there are independent candidates who will advance in the Solo Pilwalkot such as Bagyo Wahyono-FX Supardjo (Bajo). However, he remains skeptical that the independent candidate will pass the voting stage.

"If they pass this stage there will be a match against Gibran. But we know that progressing through an independent route is not an easy matter. In fact, in the current process there is a complaint to Bawaslu that the Bajo pair are suspected of faking support," he said.

It is known that three Solo residents reported the Bajo pair to Bawaslu for allegedly falsifying the signatures of support requirements. They feel that they have never provided support to the independent candidate pair.

From this incident, Putri is increasingly convinced that Gibran will not get an opponent from any party and that his steps will be easy in the Solo Pilwalkot. "With this situation, Gibran's position still has the upper hand because he is still the only definite candidate to advance in the Solo City Pilkada," he said.

Previously, a map of the coalition in the Solo Pilkada had been drawn. Gibran, who is paired with Teguh Prakosa, has bought up support from political parties that have seats in the Solo DPRD. Gibran was carried by the PDI Perjuangan, Gerindra, PAN, Golkar, and PSI.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Election Winning Body (Bapilu) and the PKS Solo DPD Pilkada, Sugeng Riyanto, emphasized that they had not given up. PKS, he said, is still looking for opportunities to find a challenger to Gibran while ensuring that the conditions for nominating candidates in the Solo Pilkada can be fulfilled.

The same thing was also conveyed by the Chairman of the PKS DPP Mardani Ali Sera. According to him, his party will continue to try to find opponents for Gibran. "We are still trying to present alternative candidates until the end of registration," he told reporters.