Grandson Pakubuwono XII Approaches PKS To Fight President's Son In The 2020 Solo Mayor Election

JAKARTA - Chairman of Bappilu DPD PKS Solo Sugeng Riyanto confirmed some time ago that Pakubuwono XII's grandson, BRA Putri Woelan Sari Dewi visited his office. He said that the grandson of the King of Solo indeed intended to advance in the 2020 Solo Mayor Election against President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who received a recommendation from the PDI-P.

"Yes, that's right (Putri came to the DPD PKS Solo office, red). (Discussion, red) is just the initial exploration. Mbak Putri's intention is to go forward and see the coalition of political parties," Sugeng told reporters, Monday, July 27.

Seeing Putri's wish, PKS then welcomed her and invited her to garner coalition support from other parties. Because, without a coalition anyone would not be able to fight Gibran because the requirements to nominate candidates for mayor and his deputy were not fulfilled.

It is known, to nominate a candidate pair in the mayoral election, parties or coalitions of parties must reach at least 20 percent or nine seats in the DPRD.

However, PKS admits that it is in a deadlock to build a coalition after the PDI-P gave a recommendation to Gibran. Thus, political lobbies related to the Solo Pilwalkot have now been diverted to the central level.

In line with Sugeng, Chairman of the PKS Solo Regional Advisory Council, Budhi Hartanto, confirmed that Putri wants to advance in the mayoral election event. "Mbak Putri hopes that PKS can support it and that a coalition party is being formed," said Budhi.

Budhi said that Putri certainly has the opportunity to be nominated by PKS in the 2020 Solo Pilwalkot. As long as she is able to become a figure that can be accepted by the coalition party or penetrates the recommendations at the central level and is able to move effectively to win later.

Furthermore, Budhi said, if a coalition was formed and Putri received a recommendation there would be a number of names who might become her companions, both PKS cadres and non-PKS cadres.

"In accordance with the results of the opinion poll in PKS that appears is the name Purnomo (Achmad Purnomo, Deputy Mayor of Solo) if PKS wants to take a candidate from outside. For PKS cadres a new name has been raised. Abdul Kadir Audah has suggested," he explained.

"But the exact calculations will be more detailed if a coalition is formed," he added.

Previously, the Chairman of the Central Java PKS DPW Abdul Fikri Faqih said from the start that his party would try to make Gibran not fight the empty box. Because, letting Gibran fight the empty box is tantamount to making democracy in the city unhealthy.

Meanwhile, a political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Aisah Putri Budiarti said there are a number of criteria that must be met by the prospective challenger to Gibran. Among other things, the challenger to President Jokowi's son must have better political capacity and have an intense closeness to the public.

"This is the right criteria for Gibran's rivals. Because in this aspect Gibran's weakness," said Putri.

It's just that, Putri thinks it is difficult to find a rival for Gibran in the 2020 Pilwalkot Solo because Ibran is carried by the PDI-P which has a strong mass base in Solo. "Second, as a son of the region, son of the president, and an entrepreneur, Gibran's social and financial capital are very strong," he concluded.