The Status Of Banteng Kandang Tak Terusik Meski PDIP Kalah Di Pilgub Jateng

Illustration of Central Java remains a Bull/PDIP cage.(IG@pdip_news)

JAKARTA The Executive Director of the Citra Institute, Yusak Farchan, said that Central Java's status as a bull cage did not necessarily disappear even though the Andika Perkasa-Hendrar Prihadi pair promoted by PDIP lost in the 2024 Central Java gubernatorial election.

Central Java will still be a voter for PDIP because of the strong voter association with Megawati Soekarnoputri's party. So, whatever the results of the Central Java gubernatorial election will not have a significant effect on changing the political color in Central Java," he said, Sunday, October 6, 2024.

He admitted that the electability of the Ahmad Luthfi-Taj Yasin pair promoted by KIM Plus so far still outperforms the Andika-Hendi pair. This is reflected in several survey institutions such as Poltracking Indonesia which reveal that Luthfi-Yasin's electability has reached double digits over Andika-Hendi.

Yusak assessed that the results of the Poltracking survey showed that Luthfi-Yasin was superior in areas dominated by Javanese cultural subculture. In West Pantura, for example, the couple dominated Pekalongan City, Pekalongan, Tegal City, Tegal, Brebes, Pemalang, and Batang. In Solo Raya, both of them also control the cities of Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Wonogiri, Klaten, Sragen, Boyolali, and Karanganyar.

Likewise, in almost all cities in the East Pantura and Kedu Raya areas, where Luthfi-Yasin outperformed Andika-Hendi. Meanwhile Andika-Hendi only competed fiercely in the Semarang Raya area which includes Semarang City, Salatiga City, Demak, and Kendal.

He explained that Luthfi-Yasin's electability over Andika-Hendi was a natural thing. This is because the couple is supported by almost all political parties in the Central Java DPRD, such as Gerindra, PKB, Golkar, NasDem, and PAN. Meanwhile, Andika-Hendi is only supported by PDIP.

Andika-Hendi is also not quite rooted in Central Java. Andika is not widely known, while Hendi is dominantly known in Semarang because of the former Mayor of Semarang. On the other hand, Ahmad Luthfi has rooted and understands the ins and outs of Central Java politics. In addition, he was accompanied by Taj Yasin who is a former Deputy Governor of Central Java," he explained.

In addition, the Luthfi-Yasin pair also received an electoral abundance from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and President-elect Prabowo Subianto who dominated Central Java in the 2024 presidential election because of Jokowi's support.

"If the campaign doesn't change, Andika-Hendi can lose. But once again, for me it (if I lose) will not disturb Central Java's status as a bull cage," said Yusak.