THE ELECTION OF H. DANIEL MUTTAQIN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE GOLKAR PARTY DPD IN WEST JAVA, A PERSPECTIVE AND ANALYSIS
By: H. Adlan Daie
Political analyst, General Secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Indramayu.
The author’s perspective and analysis place the election of H. Daniel Muttaqin, a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), as chairman of the Golkar Party’s West Java DPD for the 2026-2031 period as an interesting and contextualized elaboration, at least within Bend Anderson’s theory on the power of “political imagination” to project the imagined electoral dynamics of the 2029 election.
What is interesting is not only that H. Daniel Muttaqin is relatively young, leading a party as large as Golkar in West Java—and even elected by acclamation—but also its relevance to the need for imagination for the Golkar Party’s electoral future in West Java, where the voter population in West Java, at 19%, is the largest of all provinces in Indonesia.
H. Daniel Muttaqin’s political heritage is inextricably linked to his father, H. Yance, Regent of Indramayu (2000-2010) and Chairman of the Golkar Party’s West Java Regional Leadership Council (2009-2015). He was honed and shaped within the socio-political ecosystem of his father, the most influential “historical” political figure in the first 20 years of the reform era on the Indramayu political stage.
Indeed, in the cycle of “sunnatullah” (the law of God), every era has its leaders, and each leader has a defined orbit of his era, with all its dynamics and contexts. However, the influence of past social ecosystems serves as a starting point and a framework for political imagination in adapting to future political dynamics (Q.S. Al-Hasyr, 18).
In this context, from the author’s perspective, H. Daniel Muttaqin inherited his father’s political character, namely, “Risk Taker.” His courage to take political risks led him to boldly run for the West Java Golkar Party Regional Leadership Council (DPD) chair at a young age and be elected by acclamation, an “exponential” political achievement considering his relatively young age.
The Golkar Party in West Java placed third in the 2024 election, in terms of accumulated electoral gains, after the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). PKS won the West Java Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) with 19 seats, one seat behind the Gerindra Party, which won the election in West Java (20 seats). This reflects a more even distribution of Golkar Party electoral votes across each electoral district.
Under H. Daniel Muttaqin’s leadership, the Golkar Party in West Java has the prerequisites and political capital to win the 2029 election, both in terms of accumulated electoral gains and in terms of the number of seats converted into DPRD seats.
Social infrastructure, political skill, skill in tactically navigating issues, the ability to orchestrate logistical resources, and a well-established socio-political ecosystem are all factors that contribute to Golkar’s strength, particularly in West Java.
Golkar’s strength lies in its position as the “most central” party, or in Willem Liddle’s terms, “the melting pot party,” a melting pot of diverse political “streams,” both ideological and programmatic. In other words, Golkar is difficult to associate with “left” elements, impossible to accuse of being “anti-Pancasila,” and impossible to frame and label as an “anti-religion” party.
This is Golkar’s strength, and in practice, it lies in its technocratic “realist pragmatism,” which Golkar refers to as “workmanship,” resistant to diverse voter segments, from smallholder farmers to former bureaucrats, to activists of various Islamic “streams,” from retired Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and Indonesian National Police (Polri) members to the millennial “hijab syar’i” community.
The prerequisites and political capital of the Golkar Party mentioned above refer to the political index variables constructed by Jeffery Wonters, a contemporary political thinker who calls the integration of “politics of mind,” “political behavior,” and “political skill” within a single framework of political orchestration.
The Golkar Party possesses a broad level of awareness at the grassroots level, a long track record of technocratic political power, adaptability to the dynamics of political ideas, and a “middle” political position, namely, “workplace politics,” a hub of diverse “stream politics” that converge within it.
The remaining problem is that the Golkar Party in West Java, under the leadership of H. Daniel Muttaqin, cannot build a spirit of victory in the 2029 West Java election solely on its aforementioned advantages and a neat but bureaucratic governance design. It must be dynamic, responsive, and minimally “flirtatious” maneuvering.
In the dynamics of the 2029 electoral contest, the Golkar Party must demonstrate “political differentiation,” a distinguishing feature from other parties, particularly the Gerindra Party and the Nasdem Party, two “Golkar-derived” parties with close “electoral links.”
The current electoral political regime, based on several electoral political studies, indeed necessitates political parties.
Golkar presents itself with irregular political outbursts in public spaces and is able to transform its political communication into the familiar language of “Gen Z,” Generation Z (voters aged 17 to 29).
This is where H. Daniel Muttaqin’s political imagination in leading the Golkar Party in West Java is placed within electoral projections to win the 2029 West Java elections, using the prerequisite variables and social capital mentioned above.
Congratulations, H. Daniel Muttaqin, on carrying out a new mandate for the collective public good through the Golkar Party in West Java.**
Wassalam.
Indramayu, April 9, 2026
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