PSI and Projo Still Heavily Reliant on Jokowi's Influence

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The dependence on the influence of the 7th President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), on the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) and the Projo volunteer organisation is still considered strong.

This was conveyed by the Executive Director of Voxpol Center Research and Consulting, Pangi Syarwi Chaniago, in response to the attitude of PSI and Projo who are competing for Jokowi’s influence.

“As far as we can see, the ‘Jokowi effect’ is considered greater than the Projo or PSI effect, so the dependence of PSI and Projo on Jokowi is still strong, relatively high,” said Pangi to Kompas.com, Friday (15/6/2026).

According to him, Jokowi is still considered a ‘powerful’ figure and is positioned as the saviour for the future of both groups.

Pangi reminded that in the previous election, PSI, which openly promoted the ‘Jokowism’ narrative and identified itself as Jokowi’s party, still failed to pass the parliamentary threshold.

“(PSI didn’t pass at that time) because maybe Jokowi hadn’t ‘come down from the mountain’ yet. Now, they say Jokowi will directly campaign 24 hours a day without sleep from Sabang to Merauke. Greeting, shaking hands, and meeting with the Indonesian people,” he said.

After no longer being in office, Pangi sees that the Jokowi effect faces new challenges.

“In fact, today people are cursing, downgrading and criticising Jokowi on social media. So let’s see, it’s just an effort, it’s okay, it’s an effort, let’s try, hopefully it will be successful,” he said.

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