KIC Survey: Nearly 60% of Residents Approve of Kaesang as PSI Chairman

President Joko Widodo's son, Kaesang Pangarep, was appointed as the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) just days after officially becoming a member of the party.

Kaesang's appointment was formalized through a Decree (SK) from the PSI Supervisory Board, read by PSI Deputy Supervisory Chairperson Grace Natalie during the PSI National Coffee Meeting (Kopdarnas) at the Djakarta Theater, Central Jakarta, on Monday (25/9/2023).

"Considering and so forth, taking into account and so forth, it is decided, to appoint Mr. Kaesang Pangarep as the General Chairperson of the Central Leadership Board of the Indonesian Solidarity Party for the 2023-2028 period," read the decree, as reported by *Katadata.co.id*, Monday (25/9/2023).

This is Kaesang's first foray into the world of politics. He claims that his decision was inspired by Jokowi.

"To be frank, one of the inspirations for my entry into politics is my own father," said Kaesang on the same occasion, as reported by *Detik.com*.

So, what is the public response to this?

Based on a survey by the Katadata Insight Center (KIC), the majority, or 59.8% of respondents, agree with Kaesang's election as the Chairperson of PSI.

Meanwhile, 40.2% of respondents disagreed with the decision.

In the same survey, KIC also found that 88.2% of respondents agreed that the leadership position or chairperson of a political party should be held by someone with experience in the political party. 11.8% of respondents disagreed.

These two survey results show inconsistent respondent perceptions. This is because Kaesang was appointed as the Chairperson of PSI without any track record in the political world.

The KIC survey involved 1,178 respondents spread across Indonesia, with 53.8% female respondents and 46.2% male respondents.

The majority of respondents were from Java (77%), followed by respondents from Sumatra (11.6%) and Sulawesi (4.2%). Respondents from Kalimantan, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku-Papua ranged from 0.9% to 6.6%.

Most respondents were from the 25-34 age group (55.3%), followed by the 35-44 age group (24.7%) and the 45-54 age group (7.9%).

Data collection was conducted online on October 10-11, 2023, where respondents were asked to fill out the form independently.

(See also: Because of Kaesang, PSI's Electability Strengthens Threefold)