Proposes 3 Names Of Presidential Candidates, NasDem Insinuates Like A 'Political Motorcycle Taxi' Party By This Observer

JAKARTA - The NasDem Party has determined three names to run as presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election. Namely, DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa, and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo. However, the move made by Surya Paloh's party turned out to be a satire. NasDem is like the 'ojek party' because it transports figures outside the party, and one of them is a cadre of another political party.

Political observer and executive director of the Voxpol Center for Research and Consulting, Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, assessed that the simultaneous Pilleg, Presidential and Regional Elections in 2024 will show the qualities of cadre parties, populist parties, and pragmatic transactional parties.

According to him, it will be seen which party becomes the "political motorcycle taxi" party. Which only sends non-party candidates or supports other party cadres to advance for electoral contestation. For example, the NasDem Party which carries Anies Baswedan, said Pangi, there is a hypothesis which states that this will also have an influence on the electability of the NasDem Party (coattail effect). "But at the same time, unfortunately, it also proves that the NasDem Party failed to regenerate because it was unable to produce candidates from NasDem's own internal cadres (the meritocratic tradition)," Pangi said in a statement received by VOI, Thursday, June 23.

According to Pangi, the political motorcycle taxi party might deserve to be pinned to NasDem. Because in this context, the party is usually the only conductor, because it can only carry external figures forward in the presidential or regional elections.

"NasDem is considered a party that has not succeeded in producing the best cadres to advance in the national contest," he said. Pangi explained that the three figures who appeared as recommendations from the NasDem Party for presidential candidates to be carried in the upcoming 2024 presidential election were DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces. TNI General Andika Perkasa, and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo.

"Anies is not a cadre of any party, and the active TNI Commander General Andika Perkasa is not a cadre of the Nasdem Party and the Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo, a cadre of the PDIP party, so why not a NasDem cadre that was promoted," he stressed.

Like “Ojek”, continued Pangi, when a figure succeeds in running and is delivered to the number one seat in the presidential or regional elections, of course this is not good for the party itself. Not to mention if there are certain deals with the future candidates.

"It's like a motorcycle taxi. After being delivered to the chair of the President or the seat of the regional head, then they get deals. After that, in the next period, you can use the same political motorcycle taxi party or use another political motorcycle taxi party without having to become a cadre, without having to be rooted in the party. This is very dangerous for democracy," he explained.

Pangi also questioned what is the use of the party if it is supported by non-party or other party cadres. Perhaps, he said, that was the meaning of the political motorcycle taxi party for NasDem.

“In time, people will say why join a political party (deparpolization) if it is easy to become a presidential candidate or regional head without having to become a deep-rooted party cadre. Only with electoral concoction capital, logistical capital, it is easy to "overconfidence" to be nominated as a presidential candidate by political parties," he concluded.