If Joining PAN Is More Harmful, What Political Party Should Ridwan Kamil Choose?

Ridwan Kamil and President Jokowi (Photo via Twitter Ridwan Kamil)

JAKARTA - It is rumored that West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil will join the National Mandate Party (PAN) after declaring that he is ready to become a presidential candidate in 2024. Political communication observer at Esa Unggul University, Jamiluddin Ritonga, believes that if Ridwan Kamil joins PAN, PAN will certainly gain a lot of benefits. The reason is that some West Java residents who have supported the man who is familiarly called Kang Emil actually have the opportunity to switch to PAN. On the other hand, Ridwan Kamil will have more to lose if he joins PAN because most of his supporters will flee. According to him, this does not seem to be comparable to the political gains that Ridwan Kamil received from PAN.

"PAN can indeed be a boat for Ridwan Kamil in the 2024 presidential election. However, PAN's vote acquisition in the 2019 Legislative Election is relatively small to be able to carry Ridwan Kamil as a presidential candidate," Jamiluddin said in a statement to VOI, Wednesday, October 13.

PAN, he continued, is also unlikely to be able to carry Ridwan Kamil as a presidential candidate. Meanwhile, other parties certainly find it difficult to form a coalition with PAN just to make Ridwan Kamil a presidential candidate. Because, said Jamiluddin, Ridwan Kamil's electability is also not too bright when compared to Prabowo Subianto, Anies Baswedan, and Ganjar Pranowo. So, if Ridwan Kamil joins PAN, the biggest chance is only for the vice president. That is if PAN is able to lobby other parties to form a coalition.

"Therefore, it is better for Ridwan Kamil to move closer to another party whose vote acquisition in the 2019 legislative election is greater than PAN. A party like this has greater political bargaining to lead Ridwan Kamil to become a presidential candidate," said Jamiluddin.

Jamiluddin considered that NasDem seemed more suitable for Ridwan Kamil. Because, when Ridwan Kamil ran for governor of West Java, the party created by Surya Paloh became the main supporter. "So, there has been a special closeness between Nasdem and Ridwan Kamil," explained Jamiluddin.

In addition, he said, Ridwan Kamil seemed more nationalist so that it would be in line with NasDem, which is also a nationalist.

"If Ridwan Kamil joins NasDem, his supporters who are also a lot of nationalists will not cause many problems. Ridwan Kamil's supporters have a great chance to also join NasDem," said Jamiluddin.

Meanwhile, according to him, Ridwan Kamil's chances of becoming a presidential candidate are also greater because until now there has been no prominent NasDem cadre. This is because the electability of NasDem cadres has not yet appeared.

"Of course this is a big opportunity for Ridwan Kamil to become a presidential candidate. This choice is better if Ridwan Kamil really intends to join a political party to run for president," said Jamiluddin. Previously, the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil, admitted that he was open to running in the 2024 presidential election contestation. He stated that he was ready to run if there was an open door from a political party that would support him. "So in 2024, where my destiny is to pick me up, it won't be a problem. But if there is an open door, for example from PAN, I will say bismillah," said Ridwan Kamil at the National Workshop on the National Mandate Party (PAN) in Bali, Tuesday, October 5.