Kaesang Pangarep Joins PSI, Shortly Declared Chairman of the Party

Jakarta, Indonesia - On the 23rd of September 2023, Kaesang Pangarep, the third son of President Joko Widodo, announced his decision to join the Partai Solidaritas Indonesia (PSI). This decision came as a sort of a shock to political observers across the country, considering that President Joko Widodo is from the PDIP, a party which does not allow the family members of its cadres to join other political parties.

Anticipating Kaesang’s decision on the 19th of September 2023, PDIP clarified this rule - with the Head of the Ideology and Caderisation Branch of PDIP’s Central Leadership Council, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, releasing a statement shortly before Kaesang announced his decision to join the PSI publicly.

“What is not allowed is members of the core family joining another party. One family, for example, husband and wife. Especially the children, that is not allowed, as they are considered part of the core family.” Said Djarot as reported on by CNN Indonesia. (19/09/23)

According to the same report by CNN Indonesia however, Djarot clarified that PDIP does not continue implementing this rule when the children are already out of the responsibility of the parents - and in the case of Kaesang Pangarep, an adult with his own family, there is no violation of PDIP’s rules should he choose to join another party.

Therefore, it is implausible that Kaesang picking a party different from his father and brother would lead to PDIP stripping off the membership of President Joko Widodo or Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming.

Soon after Kaesang’s announcement of joining the PSI, it became abundantly clear that he would take a leading role in the party’s leadership. However, not much anticipated the speed of which he climbed the ladder of the party’s leadership.

As recently as the time of this article’s writing, the 25h of September, PSI held a “political declaration” ceremony which culminated in an announcement that Kaesang Pangarep would be appointed Chairman of the PSI, exercising full leadership over the party’s Central Leadership Council.

“Allow me to read out the decision of the Supervisory Council (of the PSI) regarding the placement of our brother Kaesang Pangarep as the Chairman of the Central Leadership Council of the Partai Solidaritas Indonesia (DPP PSI), with a term from 2023-2028.” Announced Grace Natalie, founder of the PSI and former Chairman in the ceremony posted to @psi_id on X (Formerly known as Twitter) and covered by MerdekaDotCom. (25/09/23) Surrounding her was Kaesang himself to her left as well as senior members of the PSI, including then-Chairman Giring Ganesha.

This decision which catapults Kaesang Pangarep to the post of Chairman is consistent with PSI’s political movements thus far, as the party has been portraying itself as the party which fervently supports President Joko Widodo. Having Kaesang as its Chairman would certainly boost the credibility of the party and could prove to be a sound strategy in the aim of securing seats in parliament in the 2024 elections.

As for its implications to the 2024 elections, it is unclear what route Kaesang would take and which candidate he would direct PSI to support. Unlike his brother Gibran, Kaesang would not be tied to any official party policy as he would be the one heading the PSI in making its decision. This allows Kaesang to exercise independent political decisions, and it is likely that the candidates of the 2024 election would begin to jockey for the support of PSI, given that the legitimacy of support from the President’s son would boost the support for the party.

In any case, this certainly is going to be an interesting addition to the ever changing dynamics of 2024 electoral politics.