PSI Clarifies Jokowi's Foot-on-Buffalo-Head Gesture During Lampung Adat Ceremony

A photograph of former President Joko Widodo placing his foot on the head of a buffalo has circulated on social media. The moment occurred during a ceremony to confer the traditional title of ‘Baginda Pemuka Bangsa’ in Lampung on Saturday, 27 June 2026. The seventh President of Indonesia was in Lampung for a series of visits with the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which is led by his son, Kaesang Pangarep. During the trip, Jokowi visited the Kedatun Keagungan Lampung and received the customary title.

The image of Jokowi stepping on the buffalo’s head was taken during the procession at the Kedatun and drew attention after spreading online. One of the criticisms came from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Jokowi’s former party, which viewed the act of stepping on a buffalo’s head as a symbol of the former cadre’s ambition for power. PDI-P uses a bull, an animal from the same Bovinae subfamily as the buffalo, as its party symbol.

PSI Central Executive Board Chairman Bestari Barus stated that Jokowi attended the traditional procession in Lampung because he was invited by local community leaders. ‘It was the community leaders there who invited him, so Pak Jokowi was given the title,’ Bestari said when contacted on Sunday, 28 June 2026. Regarding the traditional procession, Bestari said PSI could not provide a more detailed explanation. According to him, the position of Jokowi’s foot on the buffalo’s head can only be properly explained by Lampung’s community leaders. He said the culture is better understood by the figures who bestowed the customary honour upon Jokowi. ‘That is our cultural custom, part of the cultural custom. It is impossible that Pak Jokowi would then do things outside of that cultural custom,’ he stated.

Bestari regretted that some people accused Jokowi of having bad intentions when placing his foot on the buffalo’s head. ‘I think it was not intentional, not to symbolise something as accused by people with snide mouths,’ he said. According to Bestari, Jokowi placing his foot on the buffalo’s head was not an act of arrogance. Those who claim otherwise, he said, may have insulted the cultural customs preserved in Lampung. One of the criticisms against Jokowi came from PDI-P politician Mohamad Guntur Romli. ‘The buffalo head being stepped on symbolises Jokowi’s followers and PSI who are lulled behind royal behaviour, when in reality it is an ambition for limitless power for Jokowi’s family,’ Guntur said via short message on Sunday.