Between 'Hands Of God', KIM Plus And Sayonara PDIP

Photo Illustration By Andry Winarko (VOI)

JAKARTA The nomination of Ridwan Kamil and Suswono as candidates for governor and deputy governor in the 2024 Jakarta Pilkada reflects the new dynamics in the coalition supporting the Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka governments. The Indonesia Maju Coalition (KIM), which initially supported Prabowo-Gibran, is now getting stronger by joining the NasDem, PKB, and PKS parties.

Although there has been no official declaration yet, the signal for the joining of PKS has been raised by the President of PKS, Ahmad Syaikhu. On the other hand, the General Chairperson of NasDem, Surya Paloh, and the General Chairperson of PKB, Muhaimin Iskandar, have openly expressed their support for the Prabowo-Gibran government.

Surya Paloh emphasized that NasDem is ready to fully support the new government under Prabowo and Gibran. "To see Indonesia with optimism in the future, we are ready to fully support the Prabowo and Gibran governments," Paloh said after the meeting at Prabowo's residence, Kertanegara IV, Jakarta, last Thursday, April 25.

The same thing was conveyed by Muhaimin Iskandar, who emphasized that PKB had decided to join the Prabowo-Gibran coalition of supporters. This support, according to him, has been discussed since the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) on the results of the 2024 presidential election. PKB has held intensive talks since the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the KPU. Prabowo has also come to the PKB office, and we agreed to strengthen the coalition to come," explained Muhaimin.

The Role Of Invicible Hand In KIM Plus

The Executive Director of PPI, Adi Prayitno, assessed that the creation of KIM Plus, which started from the 2024 Jakarta Pilkada, could not be separated from the orchestration of great powers or innovative hands behind him. According to him, there are several parties that join because of the common platform, political interests, ideology, vision, and mission. These parties join without expecting compensation, even though they do not get a ministerial position or economic and political benefits.

However, Adi also noted that there were parties that joined due to coercion, especially those whose elites had legal problems. "Maybe there is a party that is in coalition for fear of interference or legal stun. Many party elites are related to legal issues, so they tend to be independent and not independent," said Adi, Saturday, August 17, 2024.

Adi also highlighted the risk of party division that was reluctant to bow to power. Parties that are not subject, according to him, can be split quickly through the formation of rivals who managed to win the management decree at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. Golkar and PPP have experienced bamboo politics. This is certainly terrible for other parties," he said.

The Executive Director of Indobarometer, Muhammad Qodari, saw the turmoil in the Golkar Party after Airlangga Hartarto's resignation due to a difference of views between Airlangga and President Joko Widodo and the elected president, Prabowo Subianto. In the 2024 West Java and Jakarta Pilkada, Airlangga is not in line with Prabowo, although he finally followed his direction. "Airlangga initially wanted to advance Ridwan Kamil in West Java, but Prabowo wanted to maintain the area as a voter," explained Qodari.

Shifting Political Power

According to Adi Prayitno, political elites who are no longer in power should form a new party if they want to stay involved in politics. Political parties are legal tools to build democracy and a healthy political competition. Don't take over other people's parties or intercept them, it's not healthy. If all parties are treated like that, this is very dangerous," he said.

The founder of the KedaiKOPI survey institute, Hendri Satrio, is wondering if any other party will experience something similar to Golkar, where the general chairman resigns because he is considered to be at odds with power. If true, Golkar can change from an adult and modern party to a family party.

Conflict And Cabinet Reshuffle

Not long after Airlangga resigned, there was a cabinet reshuffle in which the position of Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna Laoly, was filled with new people. This reinforces the suspicion that the government controls political parties through the Decree of the Minister of Law and Human Rights. Hendri Satrio assessed that Airlangga might upset the regime because he defended his party too much. Maybe the regime thinks, this person becomes the general chairman because of me, he sings a lot, he added.

Hendri emphasized that all political parties must be united if they do not want to have the same fate as Golkar. Currently, only the Chairperson of the PDI-P, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has not been defeated by the authorities. PDI-P is likely to be abandoned and become the only opposition in the Prabowo-Gibran government. The others are already, it's just the PDI-P that has not been defeated. Intervention or take over is also difficult, so the PDI-P may be abandoned and not part of KIM Plus," concluded Hendri.