Jakarta – Some time ago President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo gave his blessing to six ministers in his “Working Cabinet” to run as candidates in the 2019 legislative elections. But the majority of them failed to obtain enough votes to become representatives of the people in Senayan, as the parliament is known.
The ministers that took part in enlivening the 2019 legislative elections were Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture and Megawati Sukarnoputri’s daughter Puan Maharani, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, Labour Minister Hanif Dhakiri, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Eko Putro Sandjojo and Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly.
There was actually one other minister who received Widodo’s blessing to run as a legislative candidate, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Asman Abnur, but he resigned from his post after the National Mandate Party (PAN) decided to join the coalition of political parties backing Widodo’s rival, Prabowo Subianto.
Out of this list only Maharani and Laoly may have a chance of garnering enough votes and make it into the House of Representatives (DPR) for the 2019-2024 term.
During a recapitulation plenary meeting on the results of the 2019 elections, Maharani scooped up 404,304 votes in the Central Java V electoral district (dapil) and helped the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secure four seats in the DPR.
The results for Laoly however have yet to be ratified by the General Election Commission because the vote count for North Sumatra has not yet reached the national recapitulation level.
Laoly however, claimed to have pocketed 100,000 votes in the North Sumatra I electoral district when he spoke with journalists at the Presidential Palace. If Laoly’s claim is true then it can be expected that he will have enough votes to secure a seat in the DPR.
The positive wins for Maharani and Laoly have not been followed by the other four ministers. Eko Putro Sandjojo who ran as a candidate for the National Awakening Party (PKB) for the Bengkulu electoral district has failed to get into Senayan.
Sandjojo, who was seen by the PKB as a sure bet for Bengkulu, only garnered 48,625 legitimate votes and as a result the PKB will not have enough votes to win a single seat in the DPR.
Meanwhile Widodo’s two other ministers who both contested the West Java (Jabar) VI electoral district, Hanif Dhakiri and Lukman Hakim Saifuddin have also failed to win a seat.
Instead of winning a share in parliament and jacking up Widodo’s vote in West Java, both were instead toppled. Dhakiri who was a candidate for the PKB only garnered 39,366 votes and Saifuddin from the United Development Party (PPP) only got 30,197 votes.
Meanwhile the result for Imam Nahrawi from the PKB for the Jakarta I electoral district has yet to be ratified by the KPU because the Jakarta provincial recapitulation has not yet been completed.
The executive director of the Public Research and Survey Association (Persepsi), Natahari Wibowo, predicts that Nahrawi will fail to win the Jakarta I district which covers East Jakarta.
Based on Persepsi’s count in 10 East Jakarta sub-districts, the PKB’s vote will not be enough to secure a single seat.
Persepsi predicts that for the Jakarta I electoral district the PDI-P will get two seats with 356,813 votes, the Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) will win two seats with 343,785 votes, Prabowo’s Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) will win one seat with 251,053 votes and PAN will get one seat with 171,091 votes.
People’s Network for Voter Education (JPPR) Manager Alwan Ola Riantoby confirmed that reasons why the majority of “Working Cabinet” members failed to stroll into Senayan. One of the factors was alleged corruption cases being pursued by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Nahrawi was tripped up over the alleged National Sports Council (KONI) bribery case while Laoly was hindered by the alleged case of selling government positions in the Religious Affairs Ministry. These cases influenced the parties electorally and resulted in them obtaining few votes.
“Certainly there was the influence of corruption cases, which had an influence also electorally, particularly in the parties. This is evident from the PPP and the PKB loosing in two locations (the Jabar IV dapil and the Jakarta DKI I dapil)”, said Riantoby.
Riantoby added that the minimal campaign activities by the ministers were also a factor in their low vote.
Then the presence of incumbent legislative candidates and well known names in the same electoral districts also made it difficult for these ministers to garner votes.
In the Jakarta I electoral district for example there was Mardani Ali Sera, Eko Hendro Purnomo alias Eko Patrio and Habiburokhman who are very likely to get into Senayan.
“The other factor for example was the issue of “inferno” (neraka) dapils. Then the minimal campaign activities of the ministers. Imam and Lukman rarely visited their districts, although in personal terms they are well known this did not have much influence”, he said. (ryn/osc)
[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Mayoritas Menteri Kabinet Jokowi Tak Laku di Pileg 2019”.]
