Presidential Change Drama

KOMPAS/HERYUNANTO

Illustration

The change of president from Joko Widodo to Prabowo Subianto was full of drama, with characters from different classes who never gave up, but could change.

There is satisfaction and disappointment, conflict and betrayal, as well as surprises with nuances of tragedy and comedy. Family drama is intertwined with changes in national leadership.

Jokowi comes from a modest family who lived on the banks of a river. After completing his studies at the Faculty of Forestry at UGM, he worked in Aceh, and then developed a furniture business in Surakarta. At that time, there was an opportunity to participate in the Solo Mayoral Election.

Historical journey

A journalist, Anggit, accompanied Jokowi to visit his supporters in remote areas, known as blusukan. The reason was that he did not have enough funds for the campaign. By visiting residents door to door, he will get sympathy and support.

Also read: Metamorphosis of a President

Jokowi has also solved the problem of market traders in Solo, not by eviction, but by inviting them to eat together many times until finally the traders voluntarily moved from their occupied location.

So, Jokowi does indeed have an endless amount of stamina for his visits to the community. This is perhaps his main advantage that led to him becoming the president and consistently receiving high ratings in public satisfaction surveys.

After being supported and nurtured for 23 years by PDI-P (the party that has given the red carpet treatment seven times to Jokowi, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and Bobby Nasution), Jokowi finally feels that he no longer needs to rely on a single party. What is needed is a coalition of many parties.

If we read the history of national political movements from the 1900s until now, this is an extraordinarily unique career in the journey of a young person to the highest peak of power in this country.

Prabowo comes from the elite who have long played a role in this country's government. His grandfather, Margono Djojohadikoesoemo, studied and worked in the Netherlands and became the Director of BNI, which also dealt with food in 1946. At that time, Indonesia was seeking support/recognition for independence from other countries. There was a famine in India at that time, and Indonesia sent rice aid there. Sjahrir's government efforts were supported by Margono.

His father, Soemitro Djojohadikoesoemo, pursued an economics education in Rotterdam. He served as a minister several times during the Soekarno era. Due to his involvement in the PRRI rebellion, he went abroad for 10 years (1957-1967). That is why Prabowo pursued his elementary and secondary education abroad (in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich, and London).

He then entered Akabri in 1970. As the son-in-law of President Soeharto in 1983, he certainly obtained privileges in his military and other careers. When he held the rank of captain, he caused a sensation by suspecting that General Benny Murdani was planning a coup, a groundless suspicion according to Sintong Panjaitan.

He was involved in the forced disappearance case of activists in 1998. His subordinates, who were members of the Mawar Team, were tried. Prabowo himself was dismissed from the TNI service and went into exile in Jordan. It is rumored that President Megawati Soekarnoputri provided facilities to allow Prabowo to return to the homeland.

After defeating him twice in the presidential elections, in the second period of his presidency in 2019, Jokowi met Prabowo dramatically from Lebak Bulus MRT Station to Senayan Station in Jakarta.

Prabowo participated in the Golkar Party convention for the presidential nomination in 2004, but he was defeated by Wiranto. Megawati teamed up with Prabowo as her running mate in the 2009 presidential election. He founded the Gerindra Party in 2008, even inviting activists who were once victims of kidnappings.

Prabowo ran as a presidential candidate in the 2014 and 2019 elections and was defeated by Jokowi. Recently, he invited Budiman Sudjatmiko, former Chairman of the Democratic People's Party who was once a militant against Soeharto, to join his campaign team to ease allegations of human rights violations against him.

He just won after running as a presidential candidate for the third time. Similar to Francois Mitterand and Jacques Chirac in France who became presidents after running for the third time (at that time the presidential term in France was quite long, seven years).

After being officially appointed as President, paired with Gibran Rakabuming Raka as Vice President on April 24, 2024 by the Elections Commission, this pair immediately got to work. Prabowo met with the executives of the National Awakening Party (PKB), planning for future political coalitions. Meanwhile, Gibran directly visited residents of the Muara Baru apartment complex in North Jakarta, distributing free boxed milk to children. Perhaps this is the pattern of division of tasks between the two of them in the future.

Taking advantage of each other?

After defeating him twice in the presidential elections, in the second term of his presidency in 2019, Jokowi dramatically met with Prabowo from MRT Lebak Bulus Station to Senayan Station in Jakarta. Prabowo was invited to join the Indonesia Maju Cabinet along with his running mate, Sandiaga Uno. This made Jokowi's administration very strong in the executive and legislative branches.

In the 2024 Presidential Election, Prabowo is still alone when there are already two pairs of candidates. Anies Baswedan, who was declared by Surya Paloh, is paired with Muhaimin Iskandar from PKB. Ganjar Pranowo is paired with Mahfud MD. Prabowo does not have a partner yet. On May 29, 2023, during a meeting with national media at the palace, Jokowi said he will play a role in the upcoming presidential election.

The issue of air pollution is not a new one. The community has long been threatened by air pollution, and there is no shortage of research evidence indicating the threats posed by its impacts. However, despite this, there have not been significant efforts to control air pollution. As a result, residents are increasingly suffering from the effects of air pollution. The President invited Prabowo and Ganjar to observe the rice harvest in Kebumen on March 9, 2023. This suggests that Jokowi proposed this pair. However, in reality, each of them surely did not want to be second fiddle or vice presidential candidate. Was Jokowi proposing a plan that was meant to fail in this regard? This is because the solution was Gibran's name appearing as Prabowo's running mate.

In this critical situation, the testing of the law related to the minimum age of 40 for vice presidential candidates was brought to the Constitutional Court. However, in the end, the Constitutional Court led by Anwar Usman, President Jokowi's in-law, approved Gibran as a vice presidential candidate, even though his uncle was subjected to an ethical punishment by being removed from his position as the chair of the Constitutional Court.

Of course, the question arises, is Prabowo being used by Jokowi so that his son, Gibran, can run for vice president? Or is it the opposite, with Jokowi being used by Prabowo to gain votes from Jokowi's supporters? Or are they using each other?

Throughout their careers, both of these presidents have been seen as persistent and relentless. We hope that the future development of the nation will continue to be carried out with a high spirit of struggle.

Certainly, the aspect of nepotism cannot be allowed, just like serious human rights violations should not be repeated. The non-judicial resolution of serious human rights violations that has already begun in the Jokowi era - when Mahfud MD held the position of Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security - needs to be continued. The Presidential Regulation is also important and needs to be made soon.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Asvi Warman Adam

Asvi Warman Adam,Research Professor in Social and Political History, BRIN