FX Hadi Rudyatmo Supports Gibran Forward Central Java Gubernatorial Election

Chairman of the Surakarta City PDI-P DPC FX Hadi Rudyatmo/ANTARA/Narda Margaretha Sinambela

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Surakarta City PDI-P DPC FX Hadi Rudyatmo supports Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run in the Central Java gubernatorial election.

"As long as the general chairman supports and that is the right of all Indonesian citizens to nominate and be nominated. I have the law to support and win," said Rudy as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, June 22.

As long as the Chairperson of the PDI-P Megawati Soekarnoputri also supports Gibran's candidacy, Rudy as a cadre will uphold his party's direction.

"The legal order must be won and implemented," he said.

Rudy also emphasized that anyone who will run in the regional head election (pilkada), be it Gibran Rakabuming Raka or Kaesang Pangarep, will still be supported.

According to him, the most important thing is that the candidate for leader has gone through the mechanism in the party bearing the white-nosed bull logo and received a recommendation from Megawati.

"Whether it's Mas Gibran, Mas Kaesang running in Depok, mau maju di Surakarta, semua dilalui mekanismenya dan ketua umum merekomendasi," tambah Rudy.

But he emphasized that his party is currently focusing on the presidential election (pilpres) and the election for legislative members (pileg).

"Not yet, I will concentrate on the presidential and legislative elections first. The regional elections will be in November 2024," he concluded.

Previously, Diponegoro University academics Semarang Retna Hanani said Gibran Rakabuming Raka and Dico Ganinduto, both young figures, had the opportunity to compete in the constellation of the 2024 Central Java Governor and Deputy Governor Election positions.

"It is possible that they will compete. If they are to unite, I think it will be a bit risky," he said during a discussion entitled Peluang Young Leaders in the 2024 Central Java Pilkada held by the City Transformation Community (Kotta) in Semarang, Wednesday (5/4).

Gibran, who is the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, is the Mayor of Surakarta, while Dico is the Regent of Kendal who is a politician from the Golkar Party.

The Undip FISIP lecturer estimates that the electability of the two young figures is equally high among young people. However, it cannot deny the political constellation that is quite well established in Central Java.

"Proportionally, 31'33 percent of young people, that's a big vote. However, we must pay attention to the political constellation that is quite well established in Central Java that there must be a representation of nationalist and religious groups," he said.

Executive Director of AKSARA Research and Consulting Hendri Kurniawan conveyed the results of a survey showing that the two figures received the highest support from young voters in Central Java.

With high electability, Hendri actually highlighted the opportunity for both of them to be paired as candidates for Governor and Deputy Governor of Central Java in the 2024 Pilkada.

Based on the AKSARA survey on January 15-25, 2023, of 800 respondents in Central Java aged 17'39 years, the Gibran-Dico pair received the highest electability rate of 31.8 percent.

"These two young leaders are considered successful in leading their respective regions so that they are considered worthy to lead Central Java in the future," he said.

Meanwhile, Adi Prayitno, Executive Director of Indonesian Political Parameters reminded that typical voters who are still pragmatic are homework for democracy in Indonesia.

This means, he said, voters in Indonesia still tend to choose candidates who want to provide something practical or reward rather than seeing candidates from the programs they offer.