TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Political maneuvers after the 2024 General Elections are becoming more tumultuous. Parties supporting presidential candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo are preparing to file the right of inquiry in the House of Representatives or DPR to expose electoral fraud. Their voices in the DPR from the 2019 elections are much larger than the members of the parties supporting Prabowo Subianto.

NasDem, the National Awakening Party (PKB), Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS), and United Development Party (PPP) have declared their readiness to roll out the inquiry right. President Joko Widodo tries to restrain this political maneuver. He invited the Chairman of NasDem, Surya Paloh, to refrain from pursuing that intention. If Jokowi succeeds in convincing NasDem, the idea of an inquiry right will remain a fantasy because the number of its supporting votes will not reach half of the DPR members.

Jokowi has already met with Surya. However, until last week, Surya stated that he still needed to wait for the real calculation from the General Election Commission (KPU). NasDem and the parties supporting Anies still hope that their candidate’s votes will continue to rise, reducing Prabowo’s votes, which currently still hover over 56 percent. If Anies’ votes increase and Prabowo’s decrease, the possibility of a second round of elections will open up.

To persuade NasDem not to be the driving force behind the right of inquiry to expose electoral fraud., Jokowi also invited this party, which supports Anies Baswedan, to join the Prabowo coalition after October 2024. If successful, Prabowo will gain a majority of votes in the DPR—equal to Jokowi’s coalition, which controls the DPR.

President Jokowi also assigned Prabowo to meet with parties that might support the right of inquiry. Prabowo met with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the founder of the Democrat Party, a party now led by his son. As a result, Jokowi inaugurated Agus Harimurti, Chairman of the Democrat Party, into the cabinet as the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning.

In addition to suppressing the inquiry, Jokowi is also busy preparing and proposing his trusted individuals to enter Prabowo’s cabinet. So far, this offer has not been unanimously accepted by Prabowo’s inner circle. Politicians in Gerindra, Prabowo’s party, are concerned that Jokowi will have full control over the new government.

In order to achieve his aim of staying in power, Jokowi is now making preparations to take control of the Golkar Party. As a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), with which he parted ways over support for presidential candidates, Jokowi now has no party basis. This could mean he is vulnerable after he retires and no longer has a political vehicle. Golkar, the ruling party of the New Order era is one party he is most likely to take over.

Will Jokowi’s maneuvers succeed? We present the story behind the lobbying for the right of inquiries in this week’s edition. Enjoy the magazine.

Bagja Hidayat

Deputy Chief Editor

Cover Story

How Jokowi Supressed the Parliamentary Inquiry into Alleged Election Fraud

President Jokowi is trying to prevent the House from exercising its right of inquiry to investigate electoral fraud. He is involved in forming the cabinet of Prabowo-Gibran.

The Plan for Inquiry Right into election Fraud at DPR

The coalition that supports the Anies-Muhaimin presidential bid is preparing to propose a House inquiry into electoral fraud. This effort is still waiting to see where Megawati Sukarnoputri stands on this issue.

Democrat Party Eventually Joins Jokowi’s Coalition

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono takes the Democrat Party to join the remaining eight-month government of Jokowi. He claims to stay critical.

Economy

The Meat Import Uncertainty

Problems in meat imports indicate the return to the quota regime. Permits are issued late, and the volume allocated is only one-third of what is asked.

You can read more complete report on Tempo Magazine:

How Jokowi Supressed the Parliamentary Inquiry into Alleged Election Fraud

The Plan for Inquiry Right into election Fraud at DPR

Democrat Party Eventually Joins Jokowi’s Coalition

The Meat Import Uncertainty