‘Jokowi still wants action’: Indonesia’s state elections a test of ex-president’s clout

The country’s former president is back in the political spotlight campaigning for candidates in regional elections

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Joko Widodo returns to his hometown in Solo after completing his second term as Indonesia’s president. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Published: 3:13pm, 22 Nov 2024

Indonesia’s former leader Joko Widodo is back on the campaign trail to endorse gubernatorial candidates running on the ruling coalition’s tickets, in a move expected to showcase the scale of his post-presidency clout.

In the past few days, Widodo attended campaigns in battleground provinces of Jakarta and Central Java, where contestants backed by the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), President Prabowo Subianto’s grand coalition, are lagging in recent polls behind those propped up by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), to which Widodo used to belong.

Widodo’s endorsement of KIM-backed candidates is seen by analysts as a way to assess the scope of his political influence after he transferred power to Prabowo last month.

“It shows that Jokowi still wants to be a part of the political action, and this will be real test, because the results [of the regional elections in Jakarta and Central Java] will likely be interpreted in part as a reflection of whether he still commands influence or not,” said Ian Wilson, Indonesian politics researcher at Australia’s Murdoch University.

Regional head elections will be held simultaneously on November 27, which will take place in 415 regencies, 93 cities and 37 provinces, including Jakarta and Central Java.

In Jakarta, Jokowi, as the former president is widely known, threw his support behind gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil and his running mate Suswono, while in Central Java, he endorsed duo Ahmad Luthfi and Taj Yasin.