Jokowi and Ganjar Spend a Day Sharing a Car Ride

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo shared a car ride on Monday (10/4/2023). Meanwhile, talks of building a grand alliance continue.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

President Joko Widodo explains the launch of government food assistance, at the Warehouse of the Bulog Branch of Ngabeyan, in Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, Monday (10/4/2023). The rice assistance will be distributed to beneficiaries over the next three months.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo traveled in one car during Jokowi’s working visit to Surakarta, Boyolali and Sukoharjo, Central Java, on Monday (10/4/2023). This is the first time they have been spotted together after the rejection of the Israeli national soccer team’s participation in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup that was supposed to be held in Indonesia.

Following the issue of hosting the U-20 World Cup were talks of building a grand alliance for the upcoming 2024 election, which was followed with maneuvers by several political party leaders.

Based on Kompas’ monitoring, during a working visit to launch food aid at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) branch of the Ngabeyan Public Corporation in Sukoharjo on Monday (10/4), President Jokowi departed in a car with Ganjar and Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan from Jokowi’s residence in Sumber village, Banjarsari, Surakarta. Ganjar sat in the front, while Zulkifli accompanied Jokowi in the back.

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On that afternoon, Jokowi was again accompanied by Ganjar while visiting the Legi Market in Surakarta municipality. This time, Ganjar sat in the back with Jokowi. Besides the two, Jokowi’s grandson, Jan Ethes, was also spotted. At Legi market, Jokowi and Ganjar strolled down the hallway of the market’s third floor.

Ganjar also accompanied Jokowi in performing the tarawih (Ramadan evening prayer) and in attending the Zayed Humanitarian Day commemoration at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Surakarta on Monday evening.

According to the Presidential Secretariat’s deputy for protocol, press and media, Bey Machmudin, Ganjar left in one car with Jokowi from the beginning, namely from Jokowi’s residence in Sumber village, Surakarta. He also accompanied Jokowi to Selo and Cepogo Market in Boyolali, as well as to the Bulog warehouse in Sukoharjo. Ganjar was also with Jokowi upon his return to his residence.

Prior to this working visit on Monday, Jokowi and Ganjar met when Jokowi returned to Surakarta after a working visit to Tuban, East Java, on Friday (7/4). At the time, Jokowi performed the Friday prayer at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Ganjar also came to the mosque not long after. Ganjar stood beside Jokowi during the prayer. The two were also spotted walking together as they left the mosque.

SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

President Joko Widodo gives a statement to journalists after visiting Cepogo Market, Boyolali, Central Java, Monday (10/4/2023) accompanied by Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan (left) and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (right).

Accompany

Zulkifli Hasan was reluctant to answer when asked about what was discussed when he was in the same car as Jokowi and Ganjar. “This is about the sembako [staple foods] first,” said Zulkifli, who also chairs the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Ganjar is one of nine presidential candidates PAN is considering. During the party’s national coordination meeting in early March, Zulkifli mentioned pairing Ganjar with State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir.

Ganjar told Kompas, “I was asked to accompany the President in the car. We discussed quite a lot.”

On his Instagram account, Ganjar uploaded a fragment of his conversation with Jokowi while in the car. One of them was that they tried to guess what things people from Boyolali knew. “Cow’s milk, Mount Merbabu, fresh soto, what else?” he asked.

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According to Kompas’ notes, Jokowi and Ganjar also shared a car ride after attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a factory in the Batang Integrated Industrial Area on 3 Oct. 2022. The closeness of the two figures is often perceived in each of Jokowi’s visits to Central Java. However, there was suspicion that the relationship between the two were strained as a result of differing stances toward the Israeli national soccer team’s presence in Indonesia for the U-20 World Cup.

Ganjar rejected the Israeli team’s presence on grounds of the Constitutional mandate and in an effort to follow in the footsteps of Sukarno. Meanwhile, Jokowi urged that political issues not be mixed with sports affairs.

Ganjar’s stance in refusing the Israeli team may also be why his electability as a presidential candidate took a dive. According to a poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on 31 March to 4 April, which was released on Sunday (9/4), Ganjar’s electability in a simulation of three prospective presidential candidates fell from 35 percent to 25.3 percent. Meanwhile, the electability of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto rose to 30.3 percent, up from the previous 26.7 percent. Meanwhile, former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan’s electability also rose slightly from 24 percent to 25.3 percent.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

President Joko Widodo greets residents who received government food assistance, at the Warehouse of the Bulog Branch of the Ngabeyan Public Housing Agency, in Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, Monday (10/4/2023).

Populi Center deputy executive director Rafif Pamenang Imawan is of the view that the perceived closeness between Jokowi and Ganjar was a way to restore Ganjar’s electability.

“Their togetherness could be Jokowi’s attempt to show reconciliation after the two adopted different attitudes. It could also be Jokowi’s attempt to quell the disappointment of his supporters who won’t vote for Ganjar after Indonesia was stripped of its rights to host the U-20 World Cup. In other words, this togetherness could again increase Ganjar’s electability. Apart from that, their togetherness strengthens the view that Jokowi still supports Ganjar as a presidential candidate for the 2024 race,” said Rafif.

In fact, according to Rafif, Ganjar’s attitude, which aligned with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) attitude, might have even earned him the trust of his political party and a ticket to run for president in 2024.

Prabowo and Muhaimin

Meanwhile, Gerindra chairman Prabowo met with National Awakening Party (PKB) Muhaimin Iskandar at Prabowo’s residence in Jakarta on Monday.

In the meeting, which lasted about 1.5 hours, Prabowo said he had shared with Muhaimin all the discussions he had with several other political party leaders. This is referring to when Prabowo met with the leaders of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the United Indonesia Party (Perindo) and PAN.

Despite having talks with many other political party leaders, both Gerindra and the PKB are still committed to adhering to the agreement they made in August 2022. “We will carefully examine and maintain political communications with other parties,” said Prabowo.

With more members, we’ll be stronger and better.

In the near future, the party will also hold talks with the PDI-P. Prabowo said he conveyed this intention with PDI-P central executive board (DPP) chairwoman Puan Maharani when the two met at the commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the Indonesian Air Force in Jakarta on Sunday (9/4).

Muhaimin added that his party welcomed all parties to be part of their alliance. “With more members, we’ll be stronger and better,” he said.

At the Golkar Party’s DPP office in Jakarta, chairman Airlangga Hartarto met with Perindo chairman Hary Tanoesoedibjo. During the meeting one of the things they discussed was building a grand alliance. However, who this grand alliance would nominate as president and vice president was not discussed, said Airlangga.

Hary stated that a grand alliance was needed to protect the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), especially to ensure the continuity of the programs initiated by President Jokowi. (NCA/INA/NIA/BOW/HAR/CAS/SYA)

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.