Political observer Karyono Wibowo said with the support from Golkar Party, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo can ‘sleep soundly’ or feel calm in the upcoming 2019 Presidential Election race.
“To run in the 2019 Presidential Election [one] must meet the threshold of 20 percent of the vote in the House. With the support from Golkar, for a while Jokowi can ‘sleep soundly’,” said Karyono when contacted on Thursday (1/18/2018).
Karyono’s statement relates to the President’s decision to appoint Golkar cadre Idrus Marham as Social Minister and keep Golkar General Chairman Airlangga Hartarto as Minister of Industry.
According to him, the decision is also related to the political calculation in 2019, wherein President Jokowi wants to be more “intimate” with Golkar.
He said Golkar as the second-place winner in the 2014 General Election won 18,432,312 votes (14.75 percent), plus Nasdem and Hanura, all of whom have declared their support to Jokowi as the 2019 presidential candidate, so Jokowi’s threshold requirements to run as 2019 presidential candidate have been met.
“Not to mention later this plus PDIP [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle] support,” he said, as quoted from Antara.
He said the declaration of support from the PDIP seems only a matter of time. But he suggested that PDIP immediately declares its support for Jokowi in the 2019 Presidential Election so that public perception does not turn into negative.
“Lest the public perceives the PDIP seems doubtful or undecided in supporting Jokowi in the 2019 Presidential Election because it can cause negative effects in the eyes of Jokowi supporters whose number are still in the majority compared to other presidential candidate figures. PDIP should not go offside,” he said.
