Puan Maharani Says About Handsome Leaders: Observer Says Indonesia Is Difficult To Progress If People Vote For President Because Of Physical

JAKARTA - Political communication observer at Esa Unggul University, M Jamiluddin Ritonga, believes that the statement by the chairman of the DPR, Puan Maharani, asking citizens not to vote for a presidential candidate who only has a handsome face is true.

"The presidential candidates should be the best people in this country. The best from various aspects, not because of their physical appearance, which likes to surf on social media," said Jamiluddin, Friday, April 29.

According to him, Indonesia will never progress if the people still choose the president because of physical appearance. Indonesia, said Jamiluddin, will continue to be the country it is today. "In fact, it is possible that Indonesia will retreat further. Therefore, the Indonesian people must be critical and selective in choosing their president," he said. Jamiluddin reminded that it is time for presidential candidates who rely solely on physical and social media for imaging to be shunned. Such a presidential candidate, according to him, will only make it difficult for the people.

Jamiluddin suspects that Puan's accusation is directed at the Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, who is said to want to run in the 2024 presidential election. Even long before, Puan had criticized regional heads who usually only portrayed them through social media.

"Criticism of Ganjar makes sense. During his tenure as Governor of Central Java, he did not produce any spectacular achievements," said Jamiluddin.

"Even on the island of Java, the province with the highest poverty rate is Central Java. Meanwhile, other provinces on the island of Java have much better poverty rates," he continued.

Therefore, Jamiluddin considered it strange that Ganjar's electability was often high while his achievements were nothing spectacular. This oddity is also the reason why Puan often criticizes survey results, especially those released by certain survey institutions.

Puan's criticism, according to Jamiluddin, also indicates that PDIP will not carry Ganjar Pranowo in the 2024 presidential election.

Therefore, added Jamiluddin, Ganjar and volunteers should not hope that PDIP will carry it again. He suggested that Ganjar volunteers no longer need to declare Ganjar-Puan.

"Ganjar, if he still has ambitions for running for president, it is appropriate to look for other boats outside of PDIP. Golkar and PKB seem to still be open to Ganjar. And even then, if Ganjar wants to be vice president. As for the presidential candidate, it seems that it will be difficult for other parties to carry him," he said. .