PDI-P says Jokowi, Puan complement each other

JAKARTA. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) presidential candidate, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and the daughter of party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, Puan Maharani, were never divided in their attempts to bring the party to victory during the legislative election campaign last month, a party official says.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristianto said late on Saturday that it was wrong to assume that Jokowi and Puan had strained relations just because they were rarely seen together during the campaign.

“Jokowi and Puan complemented each other during campaigning, and there was no rivalry between them,” said Hasto.

“The party’s policy in separating them during the campaign was quite simple: Mbak Puan was deployed to campaign in our party’s major stronghold regions, while Pak Jokowi was sent to areas to increase our potential constituencies,” he said.

Hasto explained that Puan, who is also head of the party’s general election division head, was mostly responsible for ensuring overall election success.

Hasto also said that Jokowi used his own chartered plane because he wished to travel to regions where people wanted to get to know him better.

“Our competitors have used this situation to spin stories about a rift between Jokowi and Puan. Another important reason [for the separate planes] was to protect Jokowi’s safety.”

Rumors of an internal rift emerged after the PDI-P failed to make a strong showing in the legislative election, securing only around 19 percent of the popular vote, far below its 27 percent target.

On Saturday, The Jakarta Post quoted a source from within the PDI-P’s central board as saying that a heated debate had ensued inside Megawati’s house last Wednesday evening between rival supporters of Jokowi and Puan.

Hasto, who was present at the gathering, said the incident never took place.

Jokowi, who is also Jakarta governor, said on Sunday that he had not met with Puan since the election.

“After the election, Mbak Puan left for Hong Kong. I’ve haven’t seen her since then,” he said.