Will Indonesia’s Jokowi start his own political party to cement his legacy?

The president’s lobby group Projo says it may register as a political party as talk swirls of officials mulling a constitutional change to allow third terms

An analyst says the move could be a bluff to pressure the old guard of PDI-P, the ruling coalition’s largest party, to extend Jokowi’s tenure

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Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:30am, 19 Jun 2022

Outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, is a man on a mission to safeguard his legacy, as his second and final term ends in 2024.

At a function held by the Indonesian Association of Young Entrepreneurs on June 10, he told his audience that he wanted the next president to be someone who shares his vision.

“I hope whoever leads us next will complete what has been carried out by (my) government,” he said. “It would be a setback if the new government chose to abandon what has been started.”

Ambitious infrastructure projects have been the hallmarks of Jokowi’s leadership, chief among them the new capital city Nusantara in East Kalimantan, which will be completed around 2024 at an estimated cost of some US$35 billion.

He also leaves behind an incipient political dynasty. Eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 34, and son-in-law Muhammad Bobby Afif Nasution, 30, entered politics a few years ago and now serve as mayors of Solo and Medan, respectively. Jokowi’s sister Idayati is married to Anwar Usman, the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.

Propping up the president is a lobby group known as Projo – an abbreviation of “Pro-Jokowi”. It began when volunteers came together in 2013 to support Jokowi’s nomination as a presidential candidate in the 2014 election, and later registered as a “mass organisation”, with Jokowi as head of its advisory board.

“We now have around 7 million members across Indonesia,” said Budi Arie Setiadi, founder and general chairman of Projo. He also sits in government as Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration.