Bara JP Rejects JK's Claim, Attributes 2014 Presidential Victory to Jokowi Factor

Volunteers from Bara JP have commented on the statement by the 10th and 12th Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK), who claimed that Joko Widodo (Jokowi) became President due to his role. Bara JP emphasised that the victory in the 2014 presidential election was purely due to the Jokowi factor.

This statement was delivered by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DPP Bara JP, Utje Gustaf. He initially explained JK’s role in 2014.

“Mr JK was one of the pieces of history that helped push Mr Jokowi to become Governor of Jakarta in 2012. Regarding Mr JK’s support for Mr Jokowi’s presidential candidacy, that came after the roar of the masses supporting Mr Jokowi’s candidacy,” said Utje when contacted on Monday (20/4/2026).

He then alluded to JK’s statement in 2014. However, he still expressed thanks for JK’s role.

“Wasn’t there previously a statement from Mr JK that ‘this country would be ruined if Mr Jokowi became president’? But whatever it is, we thank Mr JK for his role, and ultimately it placed Mr JK as vice president following the 2014 presidential election,” he said.

Nevertheless, Utje expressed surprise at JK’s statement, given that JK lost in the 2009 presidential election. According to him, it is impossible to win for someone else if one cannot win oneself.

“If he claims to have played a major role in winning Mr Jokowi, I think that is refuted by referring to the 2009 presidential election where Mr JK ran as a presidential candidate. In 2009, Mr JK ran as a presidential candidate and came third out of three candidates. It’s not possible to win for someone else if he himself couldn’t win the presidential contest,” he stated.

On that basis, Utje assessed that Jokowi’s victory was due to the Jokowi factor. “So in 2014, the Jokowi-JK pair won the presidential election more because of the Jokowi factor,” he added.

As is known, JK expressed his annoyance at the accusation by Rismon Sianipar who said he funded the case regarding Jokowi’s diploma. JK then reminded of his role behind Jokowi’s career until becoming the 7th President of Indonesia.

This statement was made by JK when asked about the police report regarding a video of his lecture on ‘dying as a martyr’ at UGM. On that occasion, he said that Jokowi became the 7th President of Indonesia because of him.

“Tell all those termuls that Jokowi became president because of me,” JK asserted firmly.

Explanation from JK’s Spokesperson

Meanwhile, JK’s spokesperson, Husain Abdullah, explained the reason JK mentioned his role behind Jokowi becoming President. Husain Abdullah first noted that JK’s statement was made in a raised tone to convince Jokowi’s loyalists who often narrate that JK is ungrateful despite being appointed vice president by Jokowi in 2014.

“The explanation from Mr JK, which was delivered in a high tone, is to convince Jokowi’s loyalists who often narrate that JK does not know how to repay kindness even though he was appointed Vice President by Jokowi. He has no gratitude towards Jokowi. JK is not emotional either. But JK has long held back from opening up about this,” said Husain when contacted on Sunday (19/4/2026).

He said JK was forced to reveal his role, particularly regarding Jokowi’s candidacy in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election. He stated that JK played a role in Jokowi’s advancement on the capital’s stage.

“Finally, JK was forced to reveal his role, how he brought Jokowi to Mrs Mega to be nominated as Governor of DKI. JK realises that then during the presidential contest process, many parties were involved. But the initial promotion of Jokowi to Mrs Mega to ‘perform’ in the capital as a candidate for Governor of DKI was inseparable from the role he played,” he said.

Husain conveyed that Jokowi’s fate might have been different if he had never worked in Jakarta. According to him, Jokowi got the opportunity to run in the 2014 presidential election because he became Governor of DKI Jakarta.

“So what JK conveyed is that the initial step of Jokowi working in Jakarta opened the door for Jokowi to later become President of Indonesia. Without this, his fate might have been different. Because after becoming Governor, Jokowi was then nominated as President by Mrs Mega,” he explained.

“But at that time, Mrs Mega was unwilling to approve Jokowi’s candidacy unless JK was his running mate. Because Jokowi was considered inexperienced even though his electability was high to compete with Prabowo. So Mr JK became Jokowi’s Vice President,” he continued.

Husain emphasised that it was not Jokowi who determined JK as his running mate. He assured that it was directly at the request of PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri.

“An important note here is that it was not Jokowi who determined JK as his running mate, but directly at the request of Mrs Mega as PDIP General Chair to JK to accompany Jokowi (who was considered inexperienced at the time). Once again, Mrs Mega did not want to sign Jokowi’s candidacy unless paired with M. Jusuf Kalla. So who is actually the one who owes a debt of gratitude? Moreover, throughout the administration accompanying Jokowi, in several crucial moments JK often put himself on the line for Jokowi,” he stated.