Megawati's ruling PDI-P in need of refresh and new leader

Party’s smaller margin of victory in recent election signals need for change: Analysts

- Arlina Arshad

JAKARTA - Indonesia's ruling and largest party, led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, looks set to retain its dominance following the Feb 14 legislative election, but a smaller margin of victory signals an urgency to revitalise the party and elect a new leader, analysts say.

Real count tallies by the country's General Elections Commission as at Feb 22 showed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leading with 16.89 per cent of the total votes in the 2024 poll, based on 61.12 per cent of actual ballots counted.

The party's performance in the national polls is worse than in previous electoral victories. It secured 19.33 per cent of the popular vote in 2019 and 18.95 per cent in 2014. Official results will be announced by March 20, but are not expected to differ significantly.

Some reasons for the party's poorer showing in this election are obvious.

Previously, PDI-P had on its side the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who ran under the party's banner and helped to pull in the votes.

But in this presidential race, the outgoing Indonesian leader, better known as Jokowi, campaigned for his former nemesis and Gerindra Party chief Prabowo Subianto instead of PDI-P's nominee Ganjar Pranowo.

While the move was not surprising given Mr Prabowo's running mate was Mr Widodo's 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka - it dealt a major blow to the PDI-P.

At the start of the campaign in late November 2023, both Mr Prabowo and Mr Ganjar claimed to have the President's support before PDI-P distanced itself.

Speculation proliferated that PDI-P might be knocked off its top position when unofficial results projected a presidential victory for its rival, Mr Prabowo, with nearly 60 per cent of the vote, while PDI-P's Mr Ganjar trailed in third and last place.

But actual legislative poll results, while still preliminary, showed the party has many loyalists.