Hunting for Jokowi's Charisma in the 'Elephant' Party

Ahmad Ali revealed that he joined the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) after an invitation from the 7th President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. This occurred approximately four months before Jokowi’s term ended. He was immediately appointed as the Daily Chair of the PSI Central Executive Board. Despite this, Ahmad Ali asserted that he does not feel he ‘moved’ to PSI, but rather chose a new party after leaving NasDem. ‘I did not move to PSI. I was discarded by NasDem. NasDem no longer needed me. I have the right to choose a party, don’t I?’ Ahmad Ali told detikX. According to Ahmad Ali, the invitation was conveyed directly by Jokowi during a lunch meeting at the State Palace before the presidential term concluded. The meeting took place prior to the PSI Congress. ‘One of the factors was that the one who invited me to join was Mr Jokowi. About four months before his term ended,’ he said. At that time, on 20 June 2024, Ahmad Ali was still serving as Deputy Chairperson of the NasDem Party. During the meeting, Jokowi did not force him to join PSI. According to Ahmad Ali, Jokowi instead mentioned that several political parties wanted him and asked which option was most comfortable for him. ‘He asked me. Then he conveyed that several political parties had requested Mr Ali, including PAN, Golkar, PKB, and so on. Mr Jokowi was not authoritarian in commanding me. He actually asked, where is Mr Ali most comfortable? So I just said, I am comfortable being with you, Sir,’ Ahmad Ali disclosed. After that, Jokowi asked Ahmad Ali to accompany PSI Chairperson Kaesang Pangarep. Kaesang is Jokowi’s youngest son, who was appointed as PSI leader just two days after becoming a member of the party. ‘Then he said, can you accompany Mas Kaesang? That is how I decided to join PSI. He truly respected that I was a NasDem cadre, so he then asked, what about NasDem? I said, Sir, regarding party matters, I am comfortable with you. Wherever you direct me, I will follow, except to NasDem and PDIP,’ he stated. Ahmad Ali is not alone. In September 2025, another NasDem politician, Bestari Barus, also joined PSI. He was followed by Rusdi Masse Mappasessu, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the NasDem Faction for the 2019-2024 period representing the South Sulawesi III electoral district. Then, at the National Coordination Meeting on 31 January 2026, PSI also introduced seven new members. Five of them were political figures previously registered as cadres of other political parties. They are Hendra Joni, the two-term Regent of Pesisir Selatan and former Chair of NasDem West Sumatra; former Vice Regent of Soppeng (2019-2024) Lutfi Halide, also a former NasDem cadre; Resky Mulfiati Lutfi, a member of the South Sulawesi Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) for 2019-2024 from the NasDem Faction; Vera Firdaus, a member of the Pinrang DPRD for 2014-2019 and the South Sulawesi DPRD for 2019-2024 from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Faction; and Ikrar Kamaruddin, a member of the South Sulawesi DPRD for 2014-2019 from the Democrat Faction. PSI Deputy Chairperson Andy Budiman stated that Jokowi’s entry into PSI has become a draw for a number of politicians to join the party. He termed this the ‘Jokowi effect’. ‘Especially for PSI in 2029, with Mr Jokowi joining, with Mr Jokowi inside. This actually shows the Jokowi effect. How Mr Jokowi’s emergence in PSI has become a magnet for political figures to join, and this is good news for PSI,’ Andy Budiman told detikX. When asked whether the influx of senior politicians from other parties was part of PSI’s strategy, Andy denied any systematic planning. ‘There is nothing planned systematically. I think this is spontaneous. As soon as they hear Mr Jokowi has joined, A joins, B joins, then in the regions A joins, and so on. And we, as an open party, are of course happy to open our doors,’ Andy replied. Nevertheless, according to Andy, Jokowi continues to stress the importance of building a strong party structure down to the village level. Jokowi has repeatedly told PSI officials that the party must have a complete organisational network to have strong roots and be truly close to the community. Andy mentioned that Jokowi also monitors the progress of this structural development on various occasions, including during a meeting with PSI officials in Lampung. At that meeting, Andy said, Jokowi again reminded them of the importance of building a ‘political machine with a large engine capacity’ or a strong party organisation. ‘So this is also part of Mr Jokowi’s political message, asking PSI to form a strong structure. And he directly monitors the process of forming this structure down to the regional level,’ said Andy. In Bandar Lampung City, Jokowi accompanied top PSI officials in welcoming several new members during the PSI Regional Coordination Meeting agenda on Saturday, 27 June. At that moment, several former regional heads and cadres from other parties in Lampung Province officially declared they were joining PSI. Some of the politicians who joined PSI at that time were Suprianto (former Chair of the United Development Party (PPP) Lampung Regional Board), Anggi Romando (former Chair of the PPP West Lampung Regional Board), Gus Mansur (former member of the Lampung DPRD from the National Awakening Party (PKB) Faction), and Sahlan Sukur (former member of the Lampung DPRD from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Faction). Additionally, there was the former Regent of North Lampung who was previously with PDI-P and had led PPP in the province, Agung Ilmu Mangkunegara. However, he is also known to have been convicted of corruption and sentenced to 7 years in prison, with his political rights revoked for four years.