PDIP: The Issue Of Poverty In Central Java Does Not Affect Ganjar's Electability

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (Doc: State Secretariat)

JAKARTA - Senior PDI-P politician Hendrawan Supratikno emphasized that the issue of poverty in Central Java will not affect Ganjar Pranowo's electability in the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres) contestation.

"Central Java is the province that has won the most awards. For development indicators, its performance is one of the best," said Hendrawan, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, September 4.

Meanwhile, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that in September 2013 the percentage of poor people in Central Java was 14.44 percent. In March 2023, the percentage of poor people in Central Java was 10.77 percent.

However, the poverty rate in Central Java shows a downward trend. According to him, this was actually "fried" as a failure for Ganjar's performance during his time as Governor of Central Java.

Hendrawan said that many poverty programs were handled by Ganjar during his duties as Governor of Central Java for the 2013 '2019 period.

This is also in line with BPS data which records that the number of poor people in Central Java has decreased.

In March 2023, 3.79 million poor people were recorded. In percentage terms, this number decreased to 10.77 percent or decreased to 0.21 percent when compared to September 2022 which reached 10.98 percent or 3.86 million people.

He is optimistic that the issue of poverty in Central Java cannot be used as a bullet to attack Ganjar in the 2024 presidential election.

According to him, Ganjar's work program in overcoming poverty, the most memorable thing is the creation of productive work.

In addition, the budget social protection program (perlinsos) must be maintained. However, the effectiveness of the Healthy Indonesia Card (KIS) and the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) must be increased.

"After successfully carrying out the mandate in Central Java, now Ganjar Pranowo is given greater responsibility at the national level," he said.

The PDI-P politician assessed that Ganjar Pranowo was the figure of a presidential candidate whose attitude and behavior could be suspected (predictable).

"People whose attitudes and behavior are suspected tend to have good credibility. Unexpected people find it difficult to build a reputation because they tend to be inconsistent," explained Hendrawan.

The issue of poverty in Central Java had become a polemic recently, namely BPS placed Central Java as the second poorest province in Java after Yogyakarta due to the high number of poor people in the province.

Ketua DPP Partai Perindo Yusuf Lakaseng menilai makin isu kemiskinan di Jawa Tengah "digoreng" maka semakin menguntungkan babakpresGanjar Pranowo, terutama dalam hal meningkatkan angka elektoral menjelang Pilpres 2024.

The issue, he said, became space for Ganjar to show his achievements during his tenure as Governor of Central Java in reducing poverty in the province.

"In fact, the issue of poverty in Central Java is increasingly 'fried', it will benefit Ganjar because it is a space to show Ganjar's achievements which reduce the poverty rate significantly in Central Java," said Yusuf.

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Since the departure of the Governor of Central Java 2008 '2013 Waluyo Bibit, according to Yusuf, the poverty rate in Central Java is indeed high. However, Yusuf assessed that during Ganjar's leadership for the 2013 '2023 period, he succeeded in eliminating one million poverty rates.

"So, Central Java has contributed greatly to reducing the national poverty rate," he said.

It was explained about Ganjar's many things to reduce poverty in Central Java, starting from providing unsecured credit for MSMEs, which later became a national example. In addition, promoting tourist villages, empowering women's economy, to free vocational schools for the poor.

According to him, Ganjar's move in cooperating with village officials to overcome poverty in 13 regencies/cities in Central Java is the right step. This is considering that district-based autonomy, and the governor's function are only coordination as representatives of the central government in the province.

"Unlike DKI Jakarta, the governor has full authority because the mayor in Jakarta was appointed or appointed directly by the governor," he said.