Megawati’s swinging mood to shackle Jokowi’s nomination

Megawati’s swinging mood to shackle Jokowi’s nomination Rendi A Witular  ;   A Managing Editor at The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA POST,  28 Januari 2014

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                         

                                                      

The seasonal floods engulfing many parts of the capital may be the last thing bogging down Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, 52, in his veiled attempt to secure the presidential nomination ticket from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The more pressing matter on his side is probably the unpredictable mood of PDI-P supreme leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, 67, who believes her crusade to reinject the nation’s leadership with the Sukarno bloodline is a worthy fight.  While Jokowi has never publicly declared his aspirations for the top job, there have been numerous — and public — instances of his laying on the charm and proving his allegiance to Megawati to earn her blessing, while at the same time attempting to nip any resentment against him in the bud. Probably out of frustration, Jokowi went to the extent of kissing Megawati’s hand during the party’s 41st anniversary celebration on Jan. 10. The act was his first ever public display of obsequiousness. But the jury is out on whether such fawning is sufficient to win Megawati over, especially after she reaffirmed her previous pledge of withholding the naming of the party’s presidential candidate until the April legislative election.  Even when faced with the obvious Jokowi-fever reflected in the results of numerous surveys, suggesting the party grab the bull by the horns and announce Jokowi’s nomination, she continues to avoid the topic of the party’s preferential candidate.  Megawati’s decision to defy the call has fueled speculation about her desire to take a third shot at contesting the presidential race.  She only served as president for three years, between 2001 and 2004, lost in 2004 and again in the 2009 election against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.  “If you try to gauge what’s inside Megawati’s mind, you should position yourself as a housewife, a very sensitive one,” said one of Megawati’s confidants.  “There’s also this ego that she wants to show the world that she is a smart, popular and highly capable leader. Those party elites that look down on her only […] provoke her to run for the presidency.” Her longing for the grandeur of the president seat, flush with its VVIP facilities and services, has also posed as a variable in her decision making. However, Megawati’s bitter experience regarding loyalty may have consumed her so much that it will contribute immensely to her decision making.  Her refusal to amend ties with Yudhoyono is a blatant example of how she was deeply hurt by an act of disloyalty.  In 2001, Yudhoyono, then Megawati’s coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, assured her he would not run in the presidential election: He went on to contest and snatch the presidential seat from her in the 2004 election with the backing of his self-formed Democratic Party. Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika and former Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo, to name a few, are recent additions to Megawati’s list of disloyal followers. Both jumped ship to the Democratic Party in their bid to secure second gubernatorial terms.  Loyalty is undeniably everything for Megawati, and that, according to her buddies, seems to be lacking from Jokowi, who was not a PDI-P cadre until he was elected mayor for Surakarta, Central Java, in 2005.  Although Jokowi has boasted of his profound adhering to the teachings of Sukarno since he was a university student, the PDI-P was apparently his fourth preference.  He first approached the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), then the National Mandate Party (PAN) and then the Democratic Party.  An incident that seems to perturb Megawati is a report on how Jokowi did not notify or seek permission from his Surakarta deputy mayor, FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo, when he decided to run as a Jakarta gubernatorial candidate in 2012.  Rudy, a senior PDI-P politician and among Megawati’s confidants, is Jokowi’s political teacher and patron.  Failure to file notification or seek permission, known in Javanese as kulonuwun, is considered a big sin in Javanese culture, indicating disloyalty.  Megawati probably fears that Jokowi’s potential disloyalty may harm the political future — and presidential potential — of her son  Prananda Prabowo, who is in his 40s. Prananda, a businessman, is known to be media-shy and was not blessed with a silver tongue, unlike his half sister Puan Maharani who is far more sociable and has much more experience in managing the party.  Given the gloomy outlook for Jokowi’s nomination, noise from the House of Representatives is revealing several scenarios prepared by Megawati for the party’s presidency nomination.  Among the conjecture is that should PDI-P get more than 20 percent of the legislative vote, Megawati will have the confidence to run for the presidency with Jokowi as her running mate. If she wins, she would only serve one term and allow Jokowi to run with Prananda for the 2019 election. A larger share of the vote for the PDI-P will also open the chances for the nomination of Jokowi as president in 2014 with Prananda, who has a penchant for the Javanese spiritual teachings known as Kejawen, as his running mate. There is also speculation that Megawati will run with former vice president Jusuf Kalla, who would come not only with political funding but also the prospect of a coalition with the Golkar Party, of which Kalla used to be chairman. Another idea making the rounds — and the preferable scenario, but one that would need Megawati to bow to public demand — is that Jokowi will be the presidential candidate with Kalla as his running mate.  The nomination for the ideal pair may not come very easily as Megawati’s doubts of Jokowi has also been fueled by certain party elements, who fear that if Jokowi became the president, as those vying for “their” slice of project fees will find their paths obstructed. Recalcitrant cadres have already voiced concerns over the way Jokowi runs Jakarta as he refuses to comply with such demands. ●