Observer: The President Should Be An Example, Not In Fact Part Of Dynastic Politics

JAKARTA - Executive Director of Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) Dedi Kurnia Syah assessed that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) should be a role model for society not to perpetuate dynastic politics by prohibiting his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka from running as a candidate for mayor of Solo in the 2020 Pilkada.

However, the promotion of Gibran as a candidate for mayor by the PDI Perjuangan actually shows Jokowi participating in building dynastic politics.

"President Jokowi should be an example to others, not even become part of a political dynasty," Dedi told VOI, Monday, July 19.

He considered that political parties do have an instinct to elect anyone who has electability for the sake of wanting to be in power. Running for regional head, said Dedi, is the right of every citizen.

However, the process of choosing Gibran to become a candidate for mayor of Solo in the 2020 Pilkada which will be held on December 9, is considered to be destroying democratic equality and perpetuating efforts to build an oligarchy.

This political observer thinks dynastic politics is actually dangerous for the life of the people he leads. Because, in practice, dynastic politics will usually be accompanied by political agreements between families.

"Of course, the interests of the family will be more prominent than the public interest," he said.

He sees that as a public official, President Jokowi has the potential to abuse his power to win the child in the upcoming 2020 Pilkada contest. Especially during Gibran's journey as a candidate for mayor, Dedi saw, there was an exploitation of the family's position.

Even so, Dedi assessed that Gibran could get full support from the public without considering him a product of a political dynasty. The way is, he must be able to fulfill his political promises.

"Currently, all he can do is to make promises so that the public will believe and make sense. The consistency of the promises and implementation when they are trusted will be the provision for public trust in the future," he said.

Regarding Gibran's actions at the 2020 Solo Pilwalkot, Executive Director of the Indonesia Political Review, Ujang Komarudin, assessed that President Jokowi's son would not have significant stumbling blocks or challenges. His journey to the seat of mayor, said Ujang, will be smooth.

"Most of the challenges are only building solidity within the PDI Perjuangan Solo," he said.

The smoothness of the Gibran road, continued Ujang, was also proven after he received a recommendation from PDIP Chairman Megawati Soekarnoputri. "See, he did not pass the administration in the nomination at the internal PDIP but was passed and recommended. That alone can be resolved so other problems can of course be resolved too," he said.

It is known that Gibran's nomination was indeed polemic. Because previously, DPC PDIP Solo City proposed Achmad Purnomo, who is now Deputy Mayor of Solo with Teguh Prakosa as a candidate for mayor and deputy mayor.

Gibran's name emerged as a candidate for mayor after a survey conducted by the Slamet Riyadi University (Unisri) Surakarta Public Policy Laboratory said that Gibran has high popularity. This is because 90 percent of respondents from the survey conducted at 96 locations admitted to knowing Gibran.

After the survey was published, Gibran then met with the Mayor of Solo who also served as Chairman of the DPC PDIP FX Hadi Rudyatmo. This meeting, according to Gibran, was a step towards friendship and at the same time strengthening steps to enter the world of politics. The reason for President Jokowi's eldest son to enter politics is because he wants to help many people through his policies.

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Furthermore, Gibran came to the PDIP DPC office in September 2019 to submit a form to advance in the 2020 Solo Pilwalkot and take a PDIP membership card (KTA). It's just that, at that time, the chance for Jan Ethes' father to run on Pilwalkot through the PDIP DPC was closed.

This is because the PDIP DPC at that time used a closed voting system and as a result, Achmad Purnomo and Teguh Prakosa were nominated candidates for mayor and deputy mayor in the 2020 Pilkada.

Not giving up, Gibran went to Jakarta and met with PDIP General Chairman Megawati Soekarnoputri. The meeting was held at Mega's residence, on Jalan Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta. After some time, in December 2019, Gibran officially registered himself as a candidate for mayor of Solo through the Central Java PDIP DPD.

After registering and carrying out a due diligence at the PDIP DPP in February, Gibran finally succeeded in getting rid of Achmad Purnomo by getting a recommendation as a candidate for mayor of Solo and pairing up with Teguh Prakosa in the upcoming 2020 Pilkada.

Returning to Ujang, he considered, Gibran would not only be smooth in achieving the position he wanted but would also win hands down. "He (Gibran, red) can win above 70 percent. In fact, he can fight against an empty box," he concluded.

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