Die-hard supporters of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will hold a massive gathering on November 26, 2022, at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. A source said the gathering was to show their strong support to nominate Jokowi for a third term in office. However, the 1945 Constitution states that “The President and Vice President hold office for five years, and thereafter can be re-elected in the same office, only for one term” whereas Jokowi has been in office since 2014.
The source, who attended a meeting with Jokowi in early November 2022, told Indonesia Business Post that around 200 to 300 thousands of Jokowi’s supporters will attend the Jakarta gathering while hundreds of thousand others will hold have gatherings in their respective provinces.
“Jokowi will have a teleconference with his supporters in each province,” he said on November 6, 2022.
However, the source denied that Jokowi would use the gathering as a public display on promoting his third period candidacy. He said that some of Jokowi supporters have a plan to declare their supports for the third period as they saw that Indonesia would enter the dark days of global economic crisis in 2023 and in the future. The declaration, the source said, would take place after Jokowi leave the premise of the mass gathering.
No strong presidential candidate
Until now, there is no strong presidential candidates who really secure the candidacy tickets, including former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan. Nasdem Party already declared that it would support Anies as a presidential candidate.
The source said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) wanted their cadre to be Anies’ vice presidential candidate. He also said that PKS has met with Jokowi, who offered the party a cabinet position if they decided not to support Anies. PKS denied this offer, according to to local media.
Considering the situation, the source said Jokowi had a chance to remain in office for the third term.
“There will be a threat of global economic crisis next year and Jokowi is seen as a figure who can handle crisis after he successfully dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, there is no real presidential candidates until now,” he added.
Supporters deny third period campaign
Immanuel Ebenezer – chairman of Jokowi Mania, Jokowi’s supporting groups – confirmed on the gathering. However, he denied that the event was to declare supports for Jokowi’s third period candidacy.
“It is impossible for [Jokowi to run for] the third period. We will reject it,” he said. He added that elite groups misled some supporters who do not understand the Constitution and democracy.
Ebenezer said the gathering agenda was to consolidate supporters and prepare for the 2024 general elections. “We want the 2024 elections to run smoothly. The polarized 2017 Jakarta election and the 2019 general elections, should not happen again,” he added.
Tenggara Strategics had earlier reported that the supporters tossed the idea of pairing Jokowi as vice presidential candidate for Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto.
Global recession in 2023
The world may be edging toward a global recession in 2023 and a string of financial crises in emerging market and developing economies that would do them lasting harm, according to the World Bank.
Meanwhile, the IMF said currently there were 14 countries that have submitted proposal or petition for help from IMF. From the 14 countries, only 9 countries have been approved by the IMF for financial assistance. The remaining 5 countries cannot secure IMF assistance due to the limited budget. There are also 28 countries queuing for assistance from IMF.
Although the IMF deemed Indonesia as a strong economy in the world in terms of the GDP, Jokowi said if the war between Russia and Ukraine continued for a long period and escalated into a world war, it will have implications for all nations, including Indonesia.
