Visiting Central Java Many Times, Jokowi Cuts Ganjar-Mahfud's Base?

The Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD team has read Jokowi's intentions and strategies. A new strategy has been prepared.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Berkali-kali Berkunjung ke Jateng, Jokowi Memotong Basis Ganjar-Mahfud?

MUCHLIS JR - BIRO PERS SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

President Joko Widodo, accompanied by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo, handed over land certificates to the people at Alun-alun Wonosobo, Wonosobo District, Central Java, on Monday (22/1/2024).

In the last two months, President Joko Widodo has made three working visits to Central Java. Jokowi's intense visitation in the middle of the campaign period 2024 Election has again given rise to speculation that he is trying to win the presidential and vice presidential candidates, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka. Moreover, the electability of candidate number 2, if we refer to survey results from a number of survey institutions, has stagnated.

The latest work visit by the President to Central Java took place on Monday-Tuesday (22-23/1/2024). On Monday, the President's work visit began in Salatiga City, Magelang, then to Temanggung Regency and Wonosobo Regency.

In Salatiga, the President ensured the distribution of food aid from government rice reserves and inspected health facilities at regional public hospitals. In Magelang, the President inaugurated the road sections that were being repaired through the Regional Roads Presidential Instruction program and distributed aid for the Smart Indonesia 2024 program. Meanwhile in Temanggung, the President handed over food aid, while in Wonosobo handed over land certificates and attended a student/student rally and a teacher gathering. reciting the Koran throughout Java.

On Tuesday (23/1/2024), in addition to visiting Semarang, the President will also distribute Indonesia Pintar assistance in Purwodadi and deliver land certificates in Blora.

Also read: Neutral Promise and Codes from Jokowi

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

President Joko Widodo, accompanied by several ministers, attended the PIP assistance handover event at GOR Samapta, Magelang City, Central Java, on Monday (22/1/2024).

Just three weeks ago, precisely on January 2-3, 2024, the President visited Central Java. At that time, he visited Purworejo, Cilacap, Tegal, Banjarnegara, and Banyumas. A month before, precisely on December 13, 2023, the President visited Pekalongan. The President's official visits at the two different times were dominated by the activities of distributing aid, distributing land certificates, and inaugurating government projects.

It is undeniable that the intensity of the President's working visit to Central Java amidst the campaign season has once again sparked speculation that he is securing votes for a certain candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election. It is known that Jokowi's eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is a vice presidential candidate accompanying presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

Executive Director of Para Syndicate, Ari Nurcahyo, for example, suspects that Jokowi's intensive movements in Central Java cannot be separated from the electability of Prabowo-Gibran, which according to several survey institutions revolves around 40-45 percent. However, they have set a target of winning the presidential election in one round, which means they must achieve electability of more than 50 percent.

"All efforts have been made so that I see Mr. Jokowi distributing social aid, certificates, and so on, which is okay as part of a work visit. But, I dare say it is also a campaign for a certain candidate pair wrapped in a work visit," he added.

Also read: Presidential Election Campaign in Music

KOMPAS/KRISTI DWI UTAMI

President Joko Widodo delivered a speech at the Logistics Business Warehouse in the Munjung Agung area of the Kramat District, Tegal Regency, Central Java on Wednesday (3/1/2024). In that location, the President oversaw the distribution of food aid in the form of 10 kilograms of rice to 1,000 beneficiary families.

Jateng is considered a target because the region is the base of presidential and vice-presidential candidate number 3, Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD. Jateng is also the basis of PDI-P, one of the political parties supporting Ganjar-Mahfud. In the 2019 election, PDI-P obtained the highest electability in this province with a total of 5.7 million votes or 29.71 percent of the total 19.42 million votes cast. PDI-P's vote share in the province almost reached 21 percent of the total national vote collected. Then, out of 35 districts/cities in Jateng, PDI-P dominated 28 of them.

Suspicion that Jokowi is helping one of the presidential candidates win, according to Ari, can also be seen from the work visits agenda attended by Jokowi. According to him, agendas such as inspecting or inaugurating local roads, for example, are actually sufficient for regional leaders.

"I think there are many things that are clearly noticeable in the President's decrease in authority. Things that should not necessarily be within the President's scope, but the President intervenes. The motive is electoral, for the benefit of certain candidate pairs," he said.

Iklan

The Deputy of Politics 5.0 of the National Winning Team (TPN) of Ganjar-Mahfud, Andi Widjajanto, stated that his team has been able to read Jokowi's intentions and strategies. Moreover, following Ganjar's visits to several regions, President's working visits often followed. The team, for example, tries to avoid overlapping campaigns at a certain point after receiving information that the President will visit the same point.

DOKUMENTASI TPN GANJAR-MAHFUD

Political Deputy 5.0 of TPN Ganjar-Mahfud, Andi Widjajanto, accompanied by TPN Ganjar-Mahfud's spokesperson, Aryo Seno Bagaskoro, provided a statement to the press regarding the preparations for Ganjar-Mahfud's first debate at the TPN Media Center in Jakarta on Monday (11/12/2023).

Despite this, he sees two messages that can be taken from the phenomenon of Ganjar's visit, which was followed by Jokowi. Firstly, it further reinforces Jokowi's association with Ganjar. The public is expected to see that it is actually Ganjar who is identical to Jokowi. Jokowi's style of walking around and communication is similar to Ganjar's.

"So, Mr. Jokowi who approached the Mas Ganjar movement helped us. This reminds the public how similar the characters of the movement, the character of impromptu visits, and Mr. Jokowi's personal character are to Mas Ganjar," he said.

Also read: Presidential Candidates' Competition Captivates Voters' Hearts

Secondly, Andi noticed that Jokowi's "tailgating" of Ganjar's campaign shows similarities in territorial mapping between Jokowi's team. Therefore, it's not surprising that there are similarities in prioritizing certain regions between Jokowi's team and Ganjar's team. Please note that the forbidden words in this article are not present.

Now, the challenge, continued Andi, is for the team to analyze more deeply whether in every location visited by the President, there are specific policies that are conveyed in secret and disturb the neutrality of the apparatus. However, by knowing the locations visited by Jokowi, the team is actually helped to strengthen consolidation in those locations.

"We are increasingly helped to build our alert system to really pay attention to the neutrality of the apparatus. We have gadgets to make it go viral. "If they make a mistake and are found out, the victim will be on them," he said.

KOMPAS/NIKOLAUS HARBOWO

Presidential candidate number 03, Ganjar Pranowo, had a chat with the citizens on Arjuna Street, Gang 14A RT 002/RW 003, Slerok Village, Tegal, Central Java, after campaigning in the Brebes and Tegal regions on Wednesday (10/1/2024). Afterwards, he continued his stay at a local's house.

However, Special Staff Coordinator for the President, Ari Dwipayana, dismissed the intensity of the President's working visit to Central Java in relation to the 2024 Presidential Election. The selection of Central Java as the destination location is more due to its population density.

"The population of Indonesia, well, it's mainly concentrated in Java. Central Java, East Java, West Java and so on. And of course, social services and social protection related to human beings, the population. So we should focus more on those regions that have higher populations," he said.

In Central Java, he emphasized that the President wants to ensure that the public receives good services in the fields of health and education, including through the Smart Indonesia Card, Healthy Indonesia Card, and BPJS. The area of his working visit coinciding with Ganjar-Mahfud's campaign was considered just a coincidence.

"Campaigns happen everywhere in Indonesia, right? So we know that the President's working visit has nothing to do with the elections. This is related to ensuring that priority programs, including Indonesia Sehat and Indonesia Pintar programs, are implemented," said Dwipayana.

Also read: If you are late in taking care of moving to vote or are not registered in the DPT

KOMPAS/MAWAR KUSUMA WULAN

The Coordinator of Presidential Special Staff, AAGN Dwipayana, gave a press statement at the Ministry of State Secretariat Office in Jakarta on Tuesday (16/1/2023).

Increase supervision

According to Ferry Daud Liando, a lecturer in Political Science at Sam Ratulangi University (Unsrat), the Election Law does not prohibit the president from supporting a particular candidate in the election. In fact, it is common in the United States for the incumbent president to endorse a particular candidate.

"In the United States, the incumbent president always has a favorite in order to maintain policy continuity," he said.

However, to prevent conflicts of interest and abuse of power, he sees it as important to regulate a one-period break if one of the candidates who will continue the government comes from a close relative of the current president in power.

As long as these regulations do not exist, hope rests with the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) and the public to scrutinize the President's activities. If President Jokowi, for example, abuses power, such as politicizing social assistance to increase Prabowo-Gibran's electability or leading state civil servants to choose certain candidates, Bawaslu cannot remain silent.