Jokowi’s desperate search for a political home

In his unending quest to find a political party to call home, former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s name has now been thrown into the mix of potential candidates to contest the upcoming race for the chairmanship of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). The nascent party has no legislative seats, but it has a fair share of power within President Prabowo Subianto’s government.

Founded in 2014 as a fresh face championing progressive ideals in a dirty system, a decade later, its political maneuvers have proven no different from the political parties it originally vilified.

Following its unsuccessful bid to enter the stage of national politics in the 2019 elections, the PSI needed to find another way to gain popularity and wiggle its way into the House of Representatives. Ignoring all potential ethical concerns, the party decided to appoint Kaesang Pangarep, Jokowi’s youngest son and a politic novice, to lead it just two days after he became a member.

After failing yet again to meet the electoral threshold in the 2024 polls, the PSI is eyeing a bigger fish to take its helm: Jokowi. Each appears poised to benefit mutually from formalizing their ties, as the former president stands to gain a legitimate political platform while the party can gain the popularity boost it needs to burst onto the scene.

Party officials insist Jokowi must be a registered member to join the chairmanship race, which will adopt the “one person, one vote” principle so all members have an equal say on who will lead them.

Analysts have suggested that Jokowi’s attempt to take over his son’s political party is a mere formality, since he practically runs the PSI through Kaesang. Conversely, Jokowi’s public enthusiasm to run for the chairmanship looks desperate, perhaps even signaling his weakening grip on national politics.

It is no secret that the Prabowo administration has Jokowi loyalists. The Vice President is his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka , while the North Sumatra governor is his son-in-law, Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution. Over a dozen Cabinet members also have ties to the ex-president including Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, who is also chair of the Golkar Party, the country’s second-largest party.

Gibran, however, has been grappling with a legitimacy crisis after a group of retired military generals called for his impeachment, a step they believe is necessary to do away with Jokowi’s influence over the country. While such calls are not new, this marked the first time President Prabowo acknowledged them publicly.

When Bahlil took over Golkar’s top job from Airlangga Hartarto last August, many speculated that Jokowi was behind the move. At his inauguration, Bahlil openly told fellow party members not to play around with the “king of Java” in an apparent reference to Jokowi, who was still president at the time, and the party has since come under Jokowi’s control.

However, recent developments suggest that Bahlil’s grip on Golkar is slipping. Rumors of an extraordinary congress to unseat him have circulated, but in his opening speech on May 20 at the congress of Golkar’s founding organization SOKSI, he said the party was “100 percent solid”.

While Jokowi’s chance to join Golkar hangs in the balance, he still faces an uphill climb in seeking to restore his ties with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The party’s matriarch, Megawati Soekarnoputri, has not given any sign of opening the door to reconciliation since rescinding his membership earlier this year.

Given that many of his allies are now in jeopardy and he himself must walk a tightrope whether he chooses to join Golkar or return to the PDI-P, Jokowi could see the PSI as the safest path to advance his political future. The question is, will a small party like the PSI be enough to support his ambitions?