Observer: Political Party Coalition Not Yet Enthusiastic About Backing Prabowo-Gibran for Two Terms
The discourse on supporting President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka for a second term in the 2029 presidential election has yet to receive a warm reception from political parties in parliament.
Political communication analyst from Esa Unggul University, M. Jamiluddin Ritonga, assessed that the rather cool response is inseparable from the public’s inability to see Gibran’s performance thus far. Jamiluddin noted that the push by 7th President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) for the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) to safeguard the Prabowo-Gibran administration for two terms demonstrates the former president’s seriousness in ensuring the continuity of the current government.
“Jokowi is indeed serious about delivering and securing Prabowo-Gibran for two terms,” Jamiluddin said in a statement on Wednesday (24/6).
According to him, only PSI has responded positively and openly to the idea so far. Meanwhile, the majority of political parties in Senayan have chosen to affirm their support for the Prabowo administration without explicitly endorsing the Prabowo-Gibran pair for a second term.
“The Democrat Party, NasDem, PKB, Golkar, PKS, and PAN generally state they are focused on supporting Prabowo’s government. Among these six parties, only Golkar has explicitly declared support for Prabowo-Gibran,” he stated.
Meanwhile, PDIP is said to have chosen not to discuss the 2029 election contest, considering talks about the upcoming presidential election to be premature.
Jamiluddin assessed that the stance of most political parties is quite rational. This is because, to date, the most prominent performance in the government still comes from Prabowo as president.
“Regardless of the criticism directed at Prabowo, at least his performance is far more tangible. His pro-people programmes are being realised one by one,” he said.
He cited achievements in the agricultural sector, which he believes are beginning to show positive results, particularly regarding national rice production.
“In a short time, Prabowo’s performance in agriculture is clearly visible. At the very least, Indonesia is entitled to claim self-sufficiency in rice. This is certainly an achievement, as in Indonesia’s history, rice self-sufficiency has only occurred twice, namely during the Soeharto and Prabowo eras,” he said.
Conversely, Jamiluddin assessed that the public is still struggling to see concrete achievements produced by Gibran during his tenure as vice president. According to him, the various working visits Gibran has made to the regions have not been followed by clear information regarding results or follow-up actions.
“Gibran has indeed visited many regions, but the follow-up to his visits is unknown,” Jamiluddin said.
He also touched on the public complaint service programme “Lapor Mas Wapres,” which he believes has yet to show measurable results to the public.
“The public does not know how many complaints have received solutions. Therefore, it is indeed difficult to cite Gibran’s performance at this point,” he said.
On this basis, Jamiluddin considers it natural that many political parties are currently more inclined to give political support to Prabowo rather than to the Prabowo-Gibran pair as a whole for the next term.
“So, it is quite reasonable that many parties only give two-term support to Prabowo. Moreover, in Indonesia’s history, the determination of the vice president has mostly been left to the presidential candidate,” he concluded.