Palace says Jokowi will not be a girl in simultaneous 2024 regional elections

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Presidential Special Staff Grace Natalie Denies Question About President Joko Widodo's Pseudonym Jokowi girls in regional elections or 2024 regional elections. The Presidential Palace considers that regional electoral affairs fall under the authority of political parties.

Grace expressed this by denying the statement of PKS Secretary General Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi. The PKS Secretary General said that President Jokowi had proposed the name of his youngest son, Kaesang Pangarep a number of political parties to contest Jakarta's regional elections.

This Indonesian Solidarity Party politician said Jokowi never suggested Kaesang's name to any political party. Indeed, the question of nominating candidates falls within the internal domain of political parties.

“The president is not interfering anywhere in the regional elections,” Grace said in a short message on Thursday evening, June 27, 2024.

Grace said that the issues regarding the nomination of figures for regional elections, the level of popularity and obtaining the number of seats for the DPRD parties as conditions for nomination, are issues that are not related to the presidency. “The main thing is that the discussion is there, not with the president,” Grace said. “Mr. President is focused on carrying out his presidential duties until next October.”

The PKS Secretary General confirmed that Jokowi had proposed Kaesang's name to a number of political parties to run in the Jakarta regional elections. Answering reporters' questions at the closing of the PKS party school in Grand Sahid Jaya, Aboe Bakar said that Jokowi had proposed the name of the PSI General Chairman to a number of other political parties. “It is proposed, we will see,” he said on Thursday, June 27, 2024.

However, Aboe did not deny or confirm that PKS was one of the parties proposed by Jokowi on behalf of Kaesang. In addition, the names of other parties he mentioned also received offers. “That’s enough,” Aboe said.

Girls' allegations in Jakarta gubernatorial elections

Jokowi reportedly met with several general chairmen of political parties supporting the government at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, with one of the discussions being the 2024 regional elections. Tempo released the main report regarding Jokowi's alleged daughters in the Jakarta electoral district on June 17, 2024.

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Party leaders who met with Jokowi to discuss the Jakarta elections included Gerindra Party Chairman General Prabowo Subianto, Golkar Party Chairman General Airlangga Hartarto, National Mandate Party Chairman General Zulkifli Hasan and Democrat Party Chairman General Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono. In a meeting late last month, President Jokowi and political party leaders also discussed supporting Ridwan Kamil and the possibility of pairing him with Kaesang Pangarep, Jokowi's youngest son.

National Mandate Party Chairman Zulkifli Hasan confirmed that the meeting between Jokowi and political party leaders also discussed the regional elections. However, Zulhas, Zulkifli's nickname, claimed that he was the one who proposed Ridwan's name to the general chairmen of political parties. “Everyone agrees,” the trade minister said at the presidential palace in Jakarta on Friday, June 14, 2024.

Executive Director of Political Parameters Adi Prayitno said that Jokowi's candidates to determine the candidates for the regional elections are still very strong. Even though Jokowi will end on October 20, 2024. In the meantime, the 2024 regional elections will be held on November 27, when the president will be Prabowo Subianto.

“Regarding Jokowi's influence in the candidacy of candidates, I don't think it can be denied. But there is no guarantee that the candidate who is promoted and approved will win,” Adi told Tempo via WhatsApp message on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

Presidential Special Staff Coordinator Ari Dwipayana said President Jokowi respects the authority of each political party in determining candidates for regional head and deputy regional head. “Promoting the names of candidates for regional leadership is the domain of political parties or groups of political parties,” Ari confirmed. Tempo by short message on Monday evening, June 24, 2024.

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