Gaet Anies Baswedan, Will the People's Movement Party's Move Be Smooth?

JAKARTA - Rumors that the community organization (ormas) People's Movement would turn into a political party finally came true. The party uses Anies Baswedan, who has been appointed as an honorary member, as the main magnet.

The declaration of the People's Movement as a new political party was carried out in the first national working meeting (rakernas) at the Aryaduta Hotel, Jakarta, Sunday (18/1/2026). This is a follow-up step for the People's Movement after being formed as an organization on February 27, 2025.

In the declaration, the chairman of the Sahrin People's Movement, Hamid, wants Anies Baswedan to become President of the Republic of Indonesia.

"One thing we want is for Indonesia to be more just and prosperous and the second thing we want is that our national leader will be Insya Allah Anies Rasyid Baswedan," said Sahrin.

Political observer Dedi Kurnia Syah hopes that the People's Movement will become a significant political force, although this is not an easy matter, especially since public confidence in political parties continues to decline.

The forerunner of the People's Movement party was born when the 2024 Presidential Election was approaching. At that time, volunteers supporting presidential candidate Anies Baswedan gave birth to the People's Movement organization.

Sahrin Hamid, who is currently serving as the chairman of the People's Movement Party until 2031, is close to Anies. He is also one of Anies' main spokespersons during the 2024 presidential election. For the People's Movement, Anies, who was also present at the movement's declaration event, was referred to as an inspirational figure and a symbol of change.

"The role of Mas Anies Baswedan in this movement is clear, he is an inspiration, role model, and symbol of the struggle of ideas. And, we are here are proof that the idea of change is still alive. It is not only Mas Anies's idea, but also a public idea that we will continue to fight until the end," said Sahrin.

This formation, said Sahrin, is part of an effort to present a political struggle tool that is in the interest of the people. The collective spirit and mutual cooperation of the movement members in a number of regions became the foundation for the establishment of the People's Movement Party.

Although he hopes that Anies will become a national leader in the future, Sahrin has not decided on the right position for Anies to hold in the People's Movement Party. Sahrin stated that the current management structure is still being formulated.

Senior researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency's Political Research Center, Lili Romli, said that the efforts of new political parties to associate themselves with popular figures long before the election time were part of an effort to be able to break through the parliamentary threshold.

Looking back at the experience of previous elections, new political parties are not easy to walk to Senayan. In the 2024 Election, no one new political party crossed the parliamentary threshold.

The Labor Party, the Nusantara Awakening Party, the Ummat Party, and the Indonesian People's Wave Party, which is a new party, failed to cross the parliamentary threshold. They only garnered votes below one percent.

This, said Lili, happened because the voters were actually segmented into existing parties so that the new party was difficult to get voter support. Moreover, the existing political parties also have certain central figures. If the new political party does not have a central figure, it will be difficult to get broad public support.

"On that basis, it is not surprising that the new party that is currently being declared is associated with a central figure. Hopefully, it will get incentives from the supporters of that figure," he said.

Referring to the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling on the presidential threshold (presidential threshold) for presidential candidacy in Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections, which was read in early January 2025, each participating political party has the right to nominate a presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate.

This ruling removes the requirement for the presidential and vice presidential candidates to be at least carried by a political party or a combination of political parties that have 20 percent of the DPR seats or obtain 25 percent of the valid national votes in the previous election.

In other words, if the People's Movement passes as a participant in the 2029 election, this new party can immediately carry Anies Baswedan as the presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, political observers and Executive Director of Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) assessed that the decision of the People's Movement to become a political party is the right step if they want to participate in the contest for power. However, according to his guess, the People's Movement cannot yet be the main engine for Anies Baswedan in the 2029 political contest because it is still new in politics.

Anies Baswedan, said Dedi, has a strong position as a political figure, so he doesn't really need to create a new political party.

"Anies has become an iconic political figure, which means he has strong appeal and can work with existing political parties to achieve his goals," said Dedi.

Dedi hopes that the People's Movement can become a significant political force. Although building a new political party is not easy, especially now that public confidence in political parties continues to decline.