Senior Politicians Defect to PSI, Abandoning Long-Held Party Affiliations
JAKARTA – Several senior politicians have decided to leave the political parties that have long supported them to join the Partai Solidaritas Indonesia (PSI).
These defections have occurred over recent months and involve prominent figures who previously held strategic positions in their former parties. Below is a list of politicians who have joined PSI.
PSI, known by its elephant logo, recently welcomed Nina Agustina from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). She left PDI-P and joined PSI after claiming to have received the blessing of Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
“Yes, I would like to welcome and congratulate you on joining the large family in the Elephant House, in the Elephant Stable,” said Ahmad Ali on Friday, 27 February 2026.
Ahmad Ali noted that Nina Agustina would fill a position in PSI’s executive board at the West Java provincial level.
Beyond PDI-P, three politicians from the National Democratic Party (NasDem) have also departed to join PSI. They are Ahmad Ali, Bestari Barus, and Rusdi Masse Mappasessu.
Ahmad Ali and Bestari Barus officially joined PSI on 25 September 2025, whilst Rusdi Masse followed on 29 January 2026. To date, no detailed explanation has been provided regarding the primary reasons for their moves.
Before formally joining, Bestari Barus stated he had met with President Jokowi to inform him of his intention. “Before I joined PSI, I first met with Pak Jokowi and said, ‘Pak, I’m going to join, Pak’ like that,” Barus said when contacted by telephone on Monday, 29 September 2025.
During that meeting, Bestari was accompanied by Ahmad Ali, who at the time still held the position of Deputy Chair of NasDem. PSI is currently led by Kaesang Pangarep, President Jokowi’s eldest son.
Previously, Jokowi stated that many more figures would join PSI.
“PSI is now a super public company. PSI is now increasingly open, increasingly inclusive. Many are joining and even more will join,” Jokowi said.
This statement was made when Jokowi attended PSI’s National Working Meeting (Rakernas) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday, 31 January 2026.
“Those who will join—whether they are national figures, provincial figures, district and city figures—there will be many more,” he added.
According to Jokowi, the increasing number of figures joining will make PSI more diverse. For this reason, he emphasised the importance of tolerance and unity of vision within the party.
“Therefore, we need tolerance. We need one vision. We need to maintain harmony, maintain solidarity, maintain unity amongst ourselves,” he concluded.