The Indonesian Solidarity Party (Indonesian: Partai Solidaritas Indonesia, abbreviated PSI) is a political party in Indonesia that focuses on women's rights, pluralism, and Indonesian youth. It is led by Kaesang Pangarep who is the youngest son of President Joko Widodo. He joined the party on 23 September 2023 and became the general chairman on 25 September 2023.[3]
PSI endorsed incumbent President Joko Widodo for the 2019 election.[4] On the evening of the 2019 general election, party leader Grace Natalie acknowledged that 'quick count' results indicated PSI had won only about 2% of the national vote and would therefore not be represented in the national parliament.[5]
Origins
The party's inception began with a chat at a café in South Jakarta in late 2014. The meeting was attended by Raja Juli Antoni, a former television presenter, Grace Natalie, and Isyana Bagoes Oka, as well as two other young people who were also present.[6][7] The meeting was held due to the phenomenon of Joko Widodo's election as president in the 2014 presidential election. During the meeting, the issue of political party reform was discussed, resulting in the desire to establish a new political party. Some of the initiators knew each other and had the same perspective on the current political situation.[7]
The party was established on 16 November 2014 in accordance with Notarial Deed Widyatmoko, S.H. Number 14 of 2014. Later on the same date, the PSI Central Leadership Council (DPP PSI) officially submitted a registration letter as a political party. Subsequently, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights officially requested the DPP PSI to complete the requirements for the formation of a political party in accordance with Law No. 2/2011 on Political Parties.[7]
All PSI officials at all levels of leadership then completed the requirements for the formation of this party to ensure PSI passed the Ministry of Law and Human Rights verification which was expected to take place around mid-2016. In the end, it was officially declared a legal entity after passing the Ministry of Law and Human Rights verification on 7 October 2016. The party is the only new party to pass the legal entity selection after the 2014 presidential election.[8] In February 2018, the General Elections Commission announced that PSI was eligible to contest the 2019 general election[9] with the ballot number of 11.[10]
History
PSI logo (2014–2020)
2019-2020 elections
After being officially declared a political party participating in the 2019 elections, PSI immediately made a breakthrough in the selection of legislative candidates. The selection process of legislative candidates was held transparently, openly, and broadcast live on all PSI's social media. The aim is for the public to know and participate in assessing who the legislative candidates are who will represent their voices in the People's Representative Council (DPR-RI) and the Provincial and Regency/City DPRDs.[7]
As many as 45 percent of PSI's candidates in the 2019 elections were women, the highest among other parties and above the minimum female representation requirement of 30 percent. PSI did not set a specific target for the number of female candidates it had field.[7]
PSI's effort to improve the democratic system is to hold conventions to select candidates for regional heads. In the 2020 Indonesian local elections, PSI held Pilkada conventions for the cities of Surabaya and South Tangerang. The two cities were chosen because PSI has held 1 fraction there. In this open selection, PSI invited independent figures with integrity to join the selection committee. The selection in interview format was broadcast live on social media.[7]
In the 2019 election, the party failed to qualify for the national House of Representatives. It won seats in regional legislatures ("Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah"/DPRD) such as Jakarta and Bali, in addition to the municipal legislatures of a number of relatively large cities such as Surabaya and Bandung.[11][12]
2024 elections
On 3 October 2022 in an online press conference, PSI Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, Grace Natalie, stated that the Indonesian Solidarity Party officially endorsed and gave support to Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo as a presidential candidate and Yenny Wahid as a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 elections.[13] The support was given before Ganjar's own party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, announced his candidacy.[14] Grace Natalie stated that Ganjar Pranowo was chosen from among nine candidates. PSI’s previous presidential candidates included Ganjar Pranowo, Mahfud MD, Tito Karnavian, Sri Mulyani, and Erick Thohir.[15] The selection of Ganjar as the presidential candidate was determined through the Rembuk Rakyat screening mechanism which began in February 2022.[16] PSI also stated that they would not support Anies Baswedan in the 2024 presidential election. Grace Natalie said this was because PSI believed that Anies had committed a "great sin" against democracy in Indonesia during the DKI Jakarta regional election.[15] As a reaction, Ganjar stated that he did not know about PSI’s declaration and has not communicated with them. He says he only learned about their support from the media.[17] PSI organized multiple rallies across Jakarta in support of Ganjar's candidacy, in conjunction with rallies by the People's Conscience Party and the United Development Party.[14][18] Even to making baliho billboards in support of a Ganjar-Yenny candidacy across metropolitan cities and villages in Indonesia.[19][20] As claims of putting the banners illegally emerged, PSI stated that it was a part of the Rembuk Rakyat process.[21][22][23]
However in August 2023, presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto visited PSI and received praise by Grace Natalie, prompting pro-Ganjar member of PSI and the chairman of Ganjarian Spartan, Mohamad Guntur Romli to resign from the party.[24][25]
In the 2024 legislative elections itself, PSI won 4,260,169 votes or 2.81%, below the parliamentary threshold and hence failing to place its members in the national House of Representatives.[26] Chairman Kaesang Pangarep claimed that the party secured 26 seats in provincial legislatures and 130 seats in regency/city legislatures in the election, just over double the number of seats won in 2019.[27]
Joining of Berkarya Party elements
Elements from Berkarya Party led by its former general secretary, Badaruddin Andi Picunang joined the party on 1 March 2023 after the failure of the Berkarya Party to contest in the 2024 Indonesian general election and prolonged internal conflicts inside the party. Entryism from the Berkarya Party is unique and somewhat ironic, as Berkarya is running on a Suhartoist and New Order revivalist platform, which is opposed to the progressive PSI, and is a historical rival between the two parties dating back to 2018.[28][29][30][31]
Party leaders encouraged young citizens to actively participate in politics through local elections and Independence Day celebrations. For example, during the 70th anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia (in August 2015) and the simultaneous regional head elections (in December 2015). The party actively uses Facebook and Twitter for campaigns and uses hashtags on social networks such as #Merdeka100Persen (100 percent independent) on Independence Day and #KepoinPilkada (Get to know about local elections) for local elections.[32][33]
The party also held National Coffee Break (KopDarNas) conventions in Jakarta, firstly started on 12 November 2015 as a way to entice young voters to party conventions with free brewed coffee, now becoming a regular event.[34][35] President Joko Widodo visited the convention on 31st of January 2023.[36]
At the start of the pandemic, PSI administrators and legislators across Indonesia took the initiative to distribute personal protective equipment (PPE) and masks to health workers who were short of PPE amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. PSI legislators also donated their salaries to help people affected by the pandemic.[7]
PSI has also rolled out the #RiceBoxPSI programme since April 2021. No less than 350 thousand rice boxes have been distributed to people affected by social mobility restrictions. As of February 2022, IDR3.9 billion in donations had been collected.[37][38]
As a consequence of the desire to make PSI a "public party" which, by definition, means that the strategic decisions of a political party are decided by membership and supporters, PSI's funding is borne by the public so that PSI is not dependent on a handful of large donors. It is in this context that PSI launched the "SAKTI Card" programme to provide space for all levels of society to make regular donations.[39][40]
Views
Giring Ganesha raises his fist during a KopDarNas Event.
The PSI claims to be a social democratic party, and has occasionally been described as such.[41][42][43] Writing for The Jakarta Post, Yerica Lai has described the party's ideology as "politically liberal but economically conservative".[44] Even though the rose is a symbol of many social democratic parties in Europe and elsewhere, the Party officially claims on it website that it is direction or ideology of PSI is inspired by the teachings of President Sukarno through his words about the fragrance of roses, which are translated into the PSI party logo,[45] the concept of Pancasila, and Sukarno's Trisakti (“Sovereignty in Politics”, “Self-reliance in Economy”, and “Personality in culture”.[46]
PSI's ”trilogy” is named as “Spreading virtue”, “Caring for diversity”, and “Affirming solidarity”.[47] It should be noted what the importance of such appeals to Sukarno have for Indonesia after the end of the ‘New Order’ regime, such that virtually all parties seek to gain symbolic legitimacy from him- especially those which might arouse doubt or unfamiliarity.
The PSI's platform makes reference to solidarity and pluralism. The party’s senior cadres are fromed by new political activists who have never previously served in other political parties and claims that most of its members are comparatively young adults. It claims to ‘break the fain of bad behaviour’ by politicians of established parties.
PSI states it sets strict criteria for its leaders, namely that they cannot have been in leadership positions in other parties previously and that the maximum age to hold a leadership position in PSI is 45, while most of its members are around 20–30 years old.[48] This is done in order to provide opportunities for the younger generation to be actively involved in determining the future of indonesia and to reject gerontocratic politics, which is politics dominated by old people who manage politics in old and outdated ways.[7]
The party actively promotes openness as an inclusive and pluralist party for all youths of the nation regardless of ethnicity, race and religion. This can be seen in the recruitment pattern of PSI cadres who will serve in the Legislative and Executive institutions by looking objectively at race.[7]
The party also views that politics should be dowry-free.[7] Dowries are one of the sources of problems in post-reform Indonesian politics. Dowries trigger high costs in politics. In turn, this high cost has the potential to lead to corrupt practices.[49][50] Instead of dowries, PSI supports hundreds of candidates in the 2020 regional elections because there are common values with the candidate pairs. PSI also checks the track records of all candidates. In ensuring candidate willingness and preferred character, PSI also has a system of checks on choosing elected candidates.[7]
PSI stated that they will fight for a polygamy ban practiced by public officials if elected into the parliament.[51] The PSI Chairperson has also stated that PSI will oppose any religion-based local regulations.[52] The party also famously and frequently criticises its political opponents, especially Anies Baswedan.[53] Some of the party's members, such as its parliamentary leader in Jakarta Anggara Wicitra Sastroamidjojo, have in turn criticized the party's focus on Baswedan.[54][55]
In the aftermath of the announcement of the proposed criminal code bill additions and Indonesian Criminal Code Protest, PSI has repeatedly criticized and opposed the RKUHP, saying that it could harm vulnerable groups, minorities, and potentially be used as a tool of identity politics.[56][57]
In addition, PSI's determination to improve the face of Indonesian politics can be seen in another effort, namely by not nominating former corruptors in the 2019 elections. PSI believes that former corruptors should no longer be allowed to hold public office and participate in determining the lives of many people because in principle they are morally flawed and have a lack of integrity. PSI believes that corruption is an extraordinary crime.[7]
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