Ormas The People's Movement Is An Answer To Anies Baswedan's Political Future

Anies Baswedan attended the declaration of the People's Movement community organization (ormas) in Jakarta, February 27, 2025. (Instagram/@aniesbaswedan)

JAKARTA The community organization (ormas) of the People's Movement was officially declared on February 27, 2025. The appearance of this mass organization is believed to be the forerunner of Anies Baswedan's political vehicle before fighting in the 2029 Presidential Election (Pilpres).

The People's Movement originated from a group of Anies Baswedan volunteers during the 2024 presidential election. At that time, Anies together with his vice presidential candidate, Muhaimin Iskandar, faced Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD, as well as Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who were crowned winners.

In a declaration held at the Jakarta Initiative Office Building, Cilandak, South Jakarta, former spokesman Anies in the 2024 presidential election, Sahrin Hamid, was appointed as chairman of the People's Movement.

Anies Baswedan also attended the event, wearing an orange bomber jacket which is the identity color of the People's Movement mass organization, uniformly in the clothes of other members who attended.

Sahrin Hamid in his speech said that the People's Movement focused on political education for the people. This mass organization even plans to establish a populist political school or abbreviated as Fun.

Since failing in the 2024 presidential election, Anies Baswedan has continued his adventure by trying to run in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. The former Minister of Education needs to remain in the world of politics to maintain his electability in the upcoming five-year presidential election.

But when that happened, a partnership broke out between Anies and his supporting party, namely the National Democrats (NasDem), the National Awakening Party (PKB), and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). He then failed to contest the Jakarta Pilkada, although he was linked to the PDI-P (PDIP).

Since then, Anies is said to have had to create his own party in order to exist in the political arena. Anies once expressed his desire to form a party through YouTube with the title Note Anies Post-Pilpres and the Jakarta Pilkada. Anies said that many people want political parties that prioritize ideas.

"Building a new mass organization or party, maybe that's the way we will take. We'll see together in the future," Anies said in a video he uploaded on August 30, 2024.

The emergence of the People's Movement mass organization which was linked to Anies Baswedan was not surprising news for Andriadi Achmad as the Executive Director of the PolCom SRC (Political Communication Studies and Research Center).

"From the start, I had predicted that Anies Baswedan would establish or join one of the political parties if he wanted to continue to exist in the Indonesian political arena," Andriadi told VOI.

Therefore, the establishment of the People's Movement Ormas is an answer to Anies Baswedan's political future, he added.

Until now, Anies himself has not been included in the management of the People's Movement mass organization, Sahrin only said that Anies was used as a figure of inspiration, role model, and initiator of the change movement. Anies is called a symbol of the struggle for change.

"Pak Anies is a role model, an inspirational figure, and we know that the spirit of changing the symbol is Pak Anies," he said.

Meanwhile, while attending the People's Movement declaration, Anies emphasized that it would be too far if anyone assumed the People's Movement in the future would become a political party.

Spokesperson for the People's Movement Yusuf Lakaseng said that for now, the management of the mass organizations has been formed in all provinces and has been formed in more than 50 percent of districts/cities.

Seeing the management structure from the center to the regions, Andriadi believes that this mass organization will declare it as a political party 2.5 years before the presidential and legislative elections in 2029.

Based on Article 173 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections, political parties can participate in elections after meeting several requirements, including having management in all provinces, having management in 75 percent of the total districts/cities in the province concerned, and having a management of 50 percent at the sub-district level in each district/city.

"After officially establishing as a political party, Anies Baswedan as the main icon or figure and candidate for president of the People's Movement party in the 2029 presidential election," he said.

It is possible that Anies Baswedan will run in the 2029 presidential election with the People's Movement as his political vehicle being wider open following the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) which overturned the presidential nomination threshold or presidential threshold, which was previously regulated in Article 222 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections.

With this decision, all political parties participating in the 2029 Election have the right to propose a pair of presidential and vice presidential candidates without having to meet the requirements for obtaining certain seats or votes in the DPR. This means that no matter how many percent of the votes of the political party can apply for a 2029 presidential candidate.

"Therefore, after passing the establishment of the People's Movement party and it is certain that Anies Baswedan will be carried as a presidential candidate in 2029, of course he will form a coalition with other political parties," said Andriadi.