JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has confirmed that President Joko Widodo will not be invited to its three-day national conference, the National Working Meeting (Rakernas) beginning on Friday (May 24).
PDI-P is the current ruling party, and is set to make way for President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s coalition when parliament begins its new session following his inauguration on Oct 20.
Mr Widodo, who is popularly known as Jokowi, was formerly a cadre of the PDI-P. His membership is considered to have lapsed after he failed to support the party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo in the February presidential election.
Media outlet Kompas.com quoted PDI-P secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto as saying that the party extends invitations only to individuals committed to upholding Indonesian democracy and the rule of law.
“Those who are invited are those who have the spirit to uphold democracy and rule of law … which is sovereign to the people,” he said at a May 22 press conference.
When asked while on a visit to flood-hit West Sumatra, President Jokowi said that journalists should ask PDI-P about his absence from the event.
According to media reports, PDI-P is likely to announce on the final day of the Rakernas whether it will join Mr Prabowo’s incoming ruling coalition or decide to be in the opposition camp.
PDI-P AND JOKOWI’S HISTORY
On May 22, Mr Hasto also criticised the conduct of the recent presidential election, where the party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo lost in a landslide against Mr Prabowo.
Describing the election as the most ‘brutal’ in the history of Indonesian democracy, Mr Hasto said the run-up was marked by various forms of cheating.
He said this began with the manipulation of law, which allowed Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, to stand as a vice-presidential running mate for Mr Prabowo.
Mr Gibran’s candidacy was made possible by a controversial top court ruling, presided over by his uncle, former chief justice Anwar Usman.
Previously, Indonesia’s election law mandated that all presidential and vice-presidential candidates be at least 40 years old.
However, the constitutional court amended this clause, allowing candidates who had been elected to regional posts to stand in the presidential election regardless of their age, paving the way for the 36-year-old Mr Gibran, who is mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, to join the race.
Political observers noted that it was after this that Mr Jokowi’s relationship with PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri began to sour.
