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The North Sumatra General Elections
Commission (KPUD) has declared incumbent Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho and
his running mate Tengku Erry Nuradi winners of the election with 33
percent of the vote. Gatot, a member of the Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS), beat closest rival Effendi Simbolon, a House of Representatives
lawmaker from the Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who
secured 24.3 percent of the vote.
It was a second win for the PKS this year after its victory in West Java
last month through Ahmad Heryawan, or Aher, who was also the incumbent.
This PKS double success highlights the Muslim-based party’s grassroots
support benefiting from both incumbency and a lack of real contenders.
Contributing to PKS success is primarily the fact that its candidates had
performed relatively well during their term of office. In West Java,
Aher, for instance, won plaudits from national and international
institutions for his accomplishments in many important fields, including
children and women empowerment, corruption eradication and food security.
As for Gatot, it was his achievements in reducing poverty, unemployment
and inflation during his short period as governor.
In fact, Gatot’s ability to deal with economic development impressed
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who appointed him chief of the Board
of Special Economic Region for North Sumatra.
The real accomplishments of the two incumbent governors attracted voters.
The second reason is the absence of competitive and well-known candidates
able to match the incumbent in the elections. In West Java, although
Deputy Governor Dede Yusuf was the most popular candidate, the people in
general were not really impressed by his achievements. It also happened
to Rieke Diah Pitaloka, PDI-P lawmaker, who was the most serious
challenger of Aher.
In the case of North Sumatra, the playing field is similar to some
extent. The strongest opponents like Effendi and Irawan Pasaribu lacked
popularity both in terms of accomplishment and personality.
The third factor is that people in general and supporters of Aher and
Gatot in particular did not really care about news reports on corruption
involving former PKS president Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq. Many people nowadays
are very analytical in response to political issues. They tend to avoid
making generalizations in assessing a candidate.
The capability of the party leadership to maintain trust of members and
supporters plays the main role in keeping the party’s solidity, which in
the end results in full support to win a regional election. In this case,
Luthfi’s graft case did not automatically ruin the party’s image.
In fact, the sense of being a victim of “external conspiracy” prevailed
among party members, including those in West Java and North Sumatra, and
increased their determination to win the elections and prove their
commitments. This situation demonstrates the effectiveness of internal
indoctrination by PKS leaders to protect members from external opinions
or agendas.
The back-to-back election wins proved that PKS networking at the
grassroots level work, enabling the candidates to promote their
platforms, programs and increased popularity in an effective way. In
other words, the PKS victories were a result of the candidates’ positive
image and programs, generated mainly through social activities, including
humanitarian activities and pengajian (Koran recital gathering).
This selling process was much easier since both Aher and Gatot were
incumbents. In the case of West Java, Aher received a boost due to the
presence of Deddy Mizwar, a popular movie actor known for his clean and
religious image, as his running mate.
The presence of effective networking also enabled the PKS to successfully
counter smear campaigns. In many areas, the party’s networking went on
until the eve of voting day to ensure that any negative political
maneuvers could be contained quickly, including vote buying attempts. ●
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