It seems there’s nothing as fickle as political allegiances in Indonesia, with many of President Joko Widodo’s seemingly sworn enemies now having jumped onto his bandwagon in the lead up to the 2019 presidential and general elections.
The latest — and perhaps one of the last people anyone would expect to do so — is Kapitra Ampera. You may recognize him as one of the leaders of Persaudaraan Alumni 212 (PA 212), an umbrella organization of hardline Islamic groups closely aligned with the government’s opposition, though he is perhaps more famously known as the lawyer for Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab.
Though Jokowi and Kapitra have been on very opposite sides, politically speaking, the lawyer has changed his tune about the president recently, going as far as defending him against accusations of Islamophobia and communism last month.
Today, PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto made the surprising announcement that the party is nominating Kapitra as a legislative candidate in West Sumatra for the 2019 general election.
“Our dialog with the people of West Sumatra showed that there needs to be a bridge between PDI-P [and people of the province] so [Kapitra] was chosen for nomination,” Hasto said, as quoted by Detik today.
Hasto added that despite Kapitra’s political past, PDI-P is open to accept anyone from all backgrounds who are willing to “engage in dialog” with the party.
What could possibly be the reason behind Kapitra’s sudden switch in allegiances? Many would be tempted to draw a link to the National Police recently dropping the infamous pornography charges against Rizieq, but Kapitra has repeatedly denied brokering any political favors between his client and Jokowi.
It’s becoming even more evident that Jokowi has been quietly and somewhat surprisingly locking up the support of some of the nation’s most influential Islamic leaders in recent months, perhaps to preemptively curtail religion-based political tensions ahead of next year’s election. Some of these leaders include Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Chairman Ma’ruf Amin, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leader Said Aqil Siradj, and former Muhammadiyah leader Ahmad Syafii Maarif — all of whom were controversially appointed to high-paying positions in a newly formed government agency.
One of Jokowi’s most vocal critics, Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, who was closely aligned with PA 212 and the opposition, was also recently appointed as one of the president’s spokespersons and is now, obviously, one of his most ardent supporters.
Most notably, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Tuan Guru Bajang (TGB) — a young, rising politician particularly popular among Muslims — recently gave his support for Jokowi’s reelection next year, despite his previous close links with the opposition. In fact, Jokowi yesterday said that he’s considering TGB, as well as former Constitutional Court Judge Mahfud MD and Golkar Party Chairman Airlangga Hartanto, as his potential running mate.
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