PSI Defends Jokowi, Highlights JK's Losses When Backing Anies and Running in 2009

The Deputy Secretary-General of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), Bestari Barus, has defended Joko Widodo (Jokowi) against claims that he became President due to the role of the 10th and 12th Vice President, Jusuf Kalla (JK). Instead, Bestari Barus highlighted JK’s track record.

Bestari Barus initially expressed surprise at JK’s statement, noting that he had never seen him so emotional before.

“Yes, I’m just finding out. Well, I was just shocked. Mr JK is a statesman whom I’ve never, well, seen reacting so emotionally to issues. Usually, Mr JK is gentle; I don’t know what happened this time,” said Bestari Barus when contacted on Monday (20/4/2026).

Bestari then stated that candidacies are not individual matters. According to her, they involve the roles of various parties, including political parties.

“I think this is, whoever is nominated isn’t an individual, but more about the election participants, the supporting political parties collectively,” she said.

“Not one or two people. One or two people might promote, form winning teams, and so on. I think many people played roles back then, the supporting parties,” she continued.

However, she had no issue if JK felt he had a significant role in Jokowi’s nomination. She respected that.

“Well, if Mr JK feels he had a role, we should appreciate it as a senior politician who contributed to the agreement supporting Mr Jokowi and himself as president and vice president; that’s actually something good,” she stated.

Nevertheless, Bestari also brought up JK’s moments in presidential elections since 2009. She mentioned that JK lost in the 2009 presidential election and lost when he expressed support for Anies Baswedan in 2024.

“Who supports whom is normal, but who gets the people’s support is who wins. In the moment of Anies’s nomination recently and in 2009 when facing Mr SBY, he lost too,” she said.

She emphasised that victory in a presidential election depends on the figure accepted by the people.

“So, the one accepted by the people is, when paired with Mr SBY, SBY was accepted by the people; when paired with Jokowi, Jokowi was accepted by the people; when paired with someone (Wiranto), he wasn’t accepted by the people, so he wasn’t elected,” she noted.

As is known, Jusuf Kalla expressed his frustration over accusations by Rismon Sianipar that he funded Jokowi’s diploma case. JK then reminded of his role behind Jokowi’s career up to becoming the 7th President of Indonesia.

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

“Tell everyone, from the very beginning, Jokowi became president because of me,” JK asserted firmly.

JK’s Spokesperson’s Explanation

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

“Mr JK’s explanation, which was delivered with a high tone, was to convince Jokowi’s loyalists who often narrate that JK is ungrateful even though he was appointed as Vice President by Jokowi. No gratitude to Jokowi. JK wasn’t emotional either. But JK has long held back from opening up about this,” said Husain when contacted on Sunday (19/4).

He said JK was forced to reveal his role, particularly regarding Jokowi’s nomination for the Jakarta Gubernatorial Election in 2012. He stated that JK played a role in advancing Jokowi to the capital’s stage.

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

Husain stated 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 was the initial step of Jokowi’s career in Jakarta, which 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 Ibu Mega,” he explained.

“But at that time, Ibu Mega was unwilling to approve Jokowi’s nomination 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 wasn’t Jokowi who chose JK as his running mate. He assured that it was at the direct request of PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri.

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