0 Pastika’s governor bid gets stronger

Made Mangku Pastika’s bid to secure a second term as the resort island’s governor has gained momentum with popular endorsements streaming in and local political pundits unanimously declaring him as the strongest figure in the election slated to be held in May 2013. “So far, Pastika is right on top. He is the incumbent governor, which gives him an edge over his contenders. His populist programs are widely praised by the public and his electability is far above any local political figures who have the chance or the ambition to enter the race,” Warmadewa University’s political scientist Nyoman Wiratmaja said. 

This month, Pastika received two important endorsements. The first was from the local chapter of the Retired Indonesian Police Officers’ Association, which boasts 50,000 members across the island. Pastika is a retired three-star police general, the first Balinese ever to rise to that rank. He earned international recognition following his role as the chief of the multinational task force for the investigation of the 2002 Bali Bombing. The task force succeeded in apprehending the terrorists responsible for the brutal attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. 

“We have seen that his policies have been good for Bali and its people. He has had many pro-people policies that have created a better Bali,” the association’s chairman Brig. Gen. (ret) I Nyoman Gede Suweta said. The second endorsement took place on Dec. 25 when Pastika attended the annual congress of the Mahagotra Pasek Sanak Sapta Rsi (MGPSSR), the largest clan-based organization in Bali. The organization comprises the descendants of seven influential sages from ancient Bali and its current membership is estimated at more than 300,000 people. Pastika belongs to this clan. 

MGPSSR chairman Prof. I Wayan Wita, who referred to Pastika as “my kid brother”, praised the governor’s programs and urged him to stay tough in dealing with the opposition, promising that the organization would fully support him. Previously, Pastika had also garnered support from Pepabri, an association of retired military officers, and from Keluarga Besar Bale Agung, an informal association of 125 households that are related by blood to the late Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai Srimben, the mother of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno, thus, the grandmother of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the most powerful political party in Bali. 

Bale Agung’s publicly announced support was a major victory for Pastika given the fact that the local PDI-P elite, including PDI-P Bali chapter chairman Cok Ratmadi, had kept a distance from the governor, as well as promoting Pastika’s estranged deputy and Ratmadi’s younger brother, Anak Agung Puspayoga, as the PDI-P candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election. Pastika and Puspayoga won the 2008 gubernatorial election by a landslide after securing the endorsement of the PDI-P. The rift between them erupted after Puspayoga, a seasoned PDI-P politician who apparently harbors an ambition to be the island’s No. 1, forged an alliance with Satria Naradha, Pastika’s political arch-nemesis who owns the island’s biggest daily, Bali Post, and Bali TV. 

Naradha-controlled news outlets have continuously portrayed Pastika as a failed leader while at the same time promoting Puspayoga as the best candidate for governorship. Ratmadi had repeatedly stated that for the upcoming election the PDI-P’s endorsement would be given to Puspayoga. Curiously, up until now the PDI-P national executive board and Megawati have yet to issue a formal recommendation letter. Furthermore, in a Friday meeting with journalists, Puspayoga said that he had no knowledge on who would get the PDI-P’s endorsement. 

“It could be Adi Wiryatama [former Tabanan regent], or Cok Ratmadi because he is the chairman of PDI-P Bali chapter, or it could also be Mangku Pastika,” he said, adding that he would support any figure endorsed by the PDI-P. The lack of any bona fide challenger — Puspayoga, who is very popular in Denpasar and among royal families, hasn’t declared his candidacy, yet — has helped Pastika to gain the momentum he needed and to force the political parties to dance to his tune. 

Even if PDI-P eventually ditches Pastika and endorses another figure, Pastika has already secured endorsement from three political parties; the Golkar party, the Democratic Party and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). “If that happens, then the upcoming election will be a contest between the PDI-P, which has huge political machinery and devout followers across Bali, against the figure of Made Mangku Pastika, a popular governor with populist platform. This surely will be a very tight contest,” Wiratmaja emphasized.

source : bali daily