Article #1

PDI-P (Unchallenged?) Domination in Klaten Regency

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has always dominated the political
competition in Klaten. Since 2000, all elected regents were coming from PDI-P, except Sunarna
who was a member of the Functional Group Party (the GolkarGolkar Party) when he won the
2005’s regent election. However, he joined PDI-P in 2010 and was re-elected to serve until
2015. In the previous regent election in 2020, three candidates were competingthere were
three candidates competing for the region’s top office. The first and winning pair, Sri Mulyani
(PDI-P) and Yoga Hardaya (Golkar) secured 50,18% of the total valid ballots or 378,418 votes.
The second pair, One Krisnata and Muhammad Fajri, who was supported by the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS), the Democratic Party (Demokrat), and the Great Indonesia Movement
(Gerindra) Party, obtained 246,579 votes. The last candidates were Arif Budiyono and Harjanta,
that was endorsed by the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN),
the United Development Party (PPP), and the National Democrat Party (Nasdem) fell behind
with only 129,081 votes.

PDI-P’s domination is also evident in the Regional Legislative Election. In the last two legislative
elections (2014 and 2019), the party obtained the most seats (17 and 19) in the Regional
People’s Representative Council (DPRD), while Golkar followed in second place with 8 and 7
seats. On the other hand, the number of other political party members in the council is not
significant, filling only five or fewer seats in the council. Same as Similar to the 2019’s election,
in next year’s Legislative Election, Klaten will be divided into five electoral districts (Dapil). SN
Indonesia Klaten is located in Dapil II with 11 seats represented in the council currently, while
AQUA Klaten is located in Dapil III with 8 seats. Currently, PDI-P dominates Dapil II with three
seats, followed by Golkar with only two. Other than these two parties, there are also PKB,
Gerindra, PKS, PAN, and Demokrat with one seat each. In Dapil III, PDI-P and Golkar won the
same number of seats as they were in Dapil II whilst PKS, PPP, and PAN each secured one seat.

On June 21, Klaten General Elections Commission (KPU) published the latest list of 18 parties
that will participate in the 2024 Regional Legislative Election. In total, these parties submitted
684 legislative candidates. Nevertheless, not all parties have the same ambition and/or
resources. For example, there are only nine parties that registered the maximum number of
candidates, that is 50 people which is equal to the number of seats in the DPRD, namely PKB,
Gerindra, PDI-P, Golkar, Nasdem, PKS, PAN, Crescent Star Party (PBB), and Ummah Party.

For the upcoming Regional Legislative Election, MsMs. Mulyani, who is also the Head of PDI-P
Klaten Regional Branch (DPC), stated that the party is aiming to increase its seats in the DPRD
by 35% from 19 to 33. Meanwhile, as of last May, less ambitious targets have been set by other
parties such as Golkar (15), Gerindra (8), PKS (7-8), PKB (7), PAN (7), and Nasdem (4).

It is important to underline that PDI-P domination is not unique to Klaten as the whole of
Central Java Province is also dominated by PDI-P. Two regencies, Sukoharjo and Boyolali, that
are bounded geographically with Klaten are currently led by regents from the PDI-P. In parallel,
the party also dominated the DPRD in both regencies, occupying around 50% of the total seats.
At the provincial level, the current Central Java Governor, who has also declared his desire to
run in the 2024 Presidential Election, Ganjar Pranowo is a member of PDI-P. The Central Java
DPRD is also dominated by the party whichwho currently holdsis currently holds 42 of the 120
seats. For next year’s provincial legislative election, Klaten Regency is in Dapil VII, in which PDI-P
won half of the total seats available in the previous election.

All things considered, it is clear that PDI-P has a significant influence onin Klaten’s politics and
wants to not only maintain but expand it through next year’s elections. Although it is not illegal
for onea party to dominate a region for a long time, it is important to note that this situation is
prone to any kind of arbitrary law and decision-makingdecision making, and ignoring societal
issues that are not in accordance with their interests. Furthermore, the lack of political
competition could lead to the regency government ruling only for power and not making
innovations for the betterment of the people.

Article #2
Andika Perkasa to be Ganjar Pranowo’s Running Mate?

General (Ret.) Andika Perkasa appears to be in attention the limelight after his recent
manoeuvre with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). During and after his
retirement, many observers see AndikaM. Perkasa as a political candidate to run in the 2024
General Elections or at least will be actively participating in the upcoming election. However, his
response, or lack thereof, indicates something is currently working in the background.

Previously, on June 17,, 2022, National Democrat Party (NasDem) announced three candidates
that it would support to run for the 2024 Presidential Elections. T, they are the Governor of DKI
Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, Governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, and the then Commander
of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Gen. Andika Perkasa. This move is repeated on
March 24, 2023, when the Coalition of Changes for Unity, which consists of NasDem,
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and Democratic Party, announced that Mr. Perkasa is listed as a
possible vice presidential candidate for Anies Baswedan. However, it seems that MrM.
Perkasa’s lack of response to this indicated that either he is not interested in the supporting
coalition or already had affiliation towards something else.

Furthermore, the public perception of Mr. Perkasa has always been positive, both as a military
personnel and in his political manoeuvremanouvre. A political observer, Rocky Gerung, praised
AndikaM. Perkasa as the Commander of TNI for his support towards students’ protests in April
2022 as well as for permitting the descendants of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) to
enlist in the military, citing that Mr. Perkasa is having the proper the knowledge and skills to
participate in civilian politics. The rise of Barisan Rakyat Andika Presiden Indonesia (Bara API)
and Pendukung Andika Perkasa untuk Indonesia (Pendekar Indonesia) also shows the public
admiration and support towards Mr. Perkasa's candidacy and political journey. The Chairperson
of Pendekar Indonesia, Hendrawan Saragih, stated that the plaguing identity politics in
presidential elections made M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa a perfect candidate as he “has a good track
record, anti-racism and identity politics”.

As previously mentioned, there was a plan to pair Mr. Perkasa with Mr. Baswedan, while some
observers saw this as a ‘dark horse’ candidate. Aside , aside from Mr. Perkasa’s response, the
plan was abandoned presumably due to Democratic Party and PKS’ wish to put their cadre,
Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and Ahmad Heryawan, respectively to the presidential ticket. Thus,
pairing him with Ganjar Pranowo is the most suitable choice. According to the Executive
Director of Charta Politika Indonesia, Yunarto Wijaya, the “civil-military combo” from both
candidates would also help to approach Islamic voters. However, the latest survey from the
Research and Development Department (Litbang) of Kompas revealed that Mr. Perkasa’s
electability rate of only 2% for Mr. Pranowo’sGanjar’s vice presidential candidate in May 2023,
fell from 4.9% in January 2023. Nevertheless, his online presence might be able to help his
popularity as Kompas’ survey also reported social media as one of the most used mediums by
voters. It was shown that his social media mentions quadrupled from 704 to 2760 in the second
half of June compared to the previous period.

Despite his relatively low yet growing popularity rate, as a vice presidential candidate, Mr.
Perkasa would be beneficial to help win the election, as one of Mr Ganjar’s. Pranowo’s main
rivals, Prabowo Subianto, is a politician with an extensive military background., Mr. Perkasa’s
tenure in the military would help to balance the scale.

Looking back, MrM. Perkasa already has strong ties to PDI-P, as his father-in-law, A.M.
Hendropriyono is an ally of the Chairperson of PDI-P, Megawati. In 2021, PDI-P pushed for M.
Perkasa Mr Perkasa’s’s appointment as the TNI Commander replacing Hadi Tjahyanto, some
observers highlighted Mr. Hendropriyono’s factor for this move. His lack of response to other
political parties'parties' desire to recruit him after his retirement, can also be seen as loyalty to
PDI-P. ItIt only became clearer on June 21, when M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa visited the grave of
the first President, Soekarno wearing red batik. During the visit, it was known that M. Perkasa
Mr Perkasa had contact with Megawati on the phone while accompanied by multiple PDI-P
members including the Head of Ideology and Cadre Central Governing Body (DPP) of PDI-P,
Djarot Syaiful Hidayat. A few days later, on June 30, M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa also visited the
grave of Muhammad Hatta, Indonesia’s first vice president. Some observers see this move as
his willingness to run as a vice presidential candidate. Finally, on July 6, M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa
announced his support for Mr. Pranowo Ganjar in the 2024 General Elections. H, he stated that
he is “ready if given the task as a part of the winning team or vice presidential candidate, but
also ready if not given any task”.

It is fair to say if M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa were to run as M. PranowoMr Ganjar’s running mate, it
would be beneficial for all parties involved. Pairing former military personnel as a vice
presidential candidate, especially the popular one, with a civilian presidential candidate could
boost the popularity and help secure the election. However, as his electability rate is
considerably low for now, there isit is also possible for M. Perkasa Mr Perkasa to be appointed
as the Head of M. PranowoMr Ganjar’s Winning Team instead and build his political portfolio
before going directly into the presidential ticket.