Indonesia development head tapped as Islamic party leader
SUHARSO Monoarfa, head of the Indonesian government’s National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), has been appointed chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) for the 2020-2025 period by acclamation.
Suharso was the only party member who registered their name as a candidate during a PPP national meeting on December 19, according to organising committee head Amir Uskara, as reported by kompas.com.
Other fellow party members agreed to appoint Suharso as chairman by acclamation.
Previously serving as an acting chairman of the PPP, Suharso said he was committed to leading the party to electoral victory in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Suharso reminded party members during the committee meeting of the PPP’s “heyday” back in the 1999 presidential election, when the party was among the three leading groups alongside the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar.
“Let us each gather our strength and wisdom. Let’s merge to win the 2024 presidential election,” Suharso said as quoted by Kompas TV.
The PPP is Indonesia’s oldest Islamic political party – the result of a party merger at the beginning of the New Order under former president Soeharto.
It is now among three parties controlling the smallest number of seats in the House of Representatives and at risk of losing representation in the House in 2024 if a higher threshold is introduced.
It was previously reported that the PPP was considering supporting former Jakarta deputy governor and businessman Sandiaga Uno
in the 2024 presidential election, with several members of its branch executive board (DPC) promoting his candidacy for PPP chairman.
Sandiaga was one of several names submitted by the DPC to lead the party.
Others included Suharso, who is also Sandiaga’s uncle, as well as East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, former East Java deputy governor Saifullah “Gus Ipul” Yusuf and businessman-cum-politician Muhammad Mardiono.