Set to Resume Blusukan, Is Jokowi Still Relevant?

President Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s seventh president, is set to resume ‘blusukan’, his trademark on-the-ground outreach, a move described by one of his loyalist groups as a test of his electoral appeal after leaving office.

Projo, one of the organisation’s most fervent supporters, announced that Jokowi plans to make his first return visit in June, with the initial destination in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Projo Secretary-General Freddy Alex Damanik said Jokowi would visit NTT at the invitation of a community-led seaweed commodity development project.

‘In democracy, national figures may still interact with the public. All former presidents around the world remain active in speaking, inspiring, attending forums, or going to the people. So long as it does not break the law,’ he said on Monday (18/5).

Agung Baskoro, Executive Director of Trias Politika Strategis, described Jokowi’s plan as a test of his electoral magnet. Unlike other former presidents who have a home base in a political party, Jokowi does not hold a formal post in any party, so the blusukan could be seen as a measure of whether he remains relevant in the current political landscape.

‘Thus, at this point he must test his electoral magnet after being out of office for 1.5 years, whether he remains relevant to our political stage or otherwise,’ he said when contacted on Tuesday (19/5).

Agung noted that Jokowi’s ‘Jokowi effect’, long praised in electoral contests, would continue to function only if sustained by concrete political activity, including blusukan.

Jokowi has chosen NTT because the province has long been outside Java as his political base. According to Agung, Jokowi wants to safeguard his legacy from his presidency and his achievements.

‘Therefore, this needs to be anticipated, especially as the election season approaches,’ he added.

Sidelining political manoeuvres

Meanwhile, Ali Rif’an, Executive Director of Arus Survei Indonesia (ASI), cautioned about Jokowi’s political manoeuvres behind the plan to resume blusukan. He argued that although the move could help the Prabowo administration, it could also backfire.

‘It could help the government in the short term while also serving as a political manoeuvre to improve bargaining power for 2029,’ he said.

According to Ali, Jokowi could measure his past achievements against the current government under Prabowo to create a contrast. That situation could mean Jokowi’s blusukan benefits the government, or it could backfire.

Moreover, he noted, the current government is facing economic challenges, including a depreciation of the rupiah and a slide in the Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG).

‘But the danger is that if the political manoeuvre becomes too dominant, it could be counterproductive for the 2029 political machinery, which will heat up earlier as the economy remains under pressure (dollar and IHSG),’ he added.