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Contestants brace for all-out fight
Widespread support: Papuan musicians perform a dance in front of the Proclamation Monument in Jakarta on Sunday
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Widespread support: Papuan musicians perform a dance in front of the Proclamation Monument in Jakarta on Sunday. The event was held as a part of the Barisan Indonesia’s (Indonesia Front) declaration of support for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s run for president.
The battle for the presidency is heating up, with the three pairs of candidates bringing together their political supporters to devise strategies for victory.
With a former Army general in each of the presidential tickets, skillful planning for the anticipated all-out fight between candidates will certainly come in handy.
The incumbent President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is a retired honorary four-star general who has proved himself as a master political strategist after his Democratic Party won the April 9 legislative elections. Choosing Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono as his running mate may also prove a wise move, as he needs to convince voters his administration can bring the country out of the current financial crisis.
Former President Megawati Soekarnoputri teamed up with Prabowo Subianto, a former lieutenant general whose military career came to an end amid political reform in 1998. Prabowo founded the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) just last year.
Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla, the incumbent Vice President, is vying for the presidency with support from former Indonesian Military chief Wiranto, who established the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) in 2007 after quitting Golkar.
Yudhoyono gathered leaders from the Democratic Party and its 23 coalition partners at his residence in Cikeas near Bogor, West Java, on Saturday for the unveiling of his grand roadmap toward victory.
“I hope to continue to play it clean, no matter how fierce the competition will be,” he told leaders of the 23 political parties gathered to sign a coalition agreement.
Yudhoyono said even though the coalition was a large force, skillful strategy and tactics would still need to be applied to ensure victory.
National Mandate Party (PAN) chief Soetrisno Bachir, who tendered his resignation following a feud with the party’s chief patron Amien Rais over PAN’s support for Yudhoyono, was the last to sign the contract.
PD secretary general Marzuki Ali said the coalition had formed a “successful team” for the Yudhoyono-Boediono campaign, which is led by State Secretary Hatta Radjasa, also PAN deputy chief patron.
The duo of Kalla and Wiranto were the first pair to organize their political team.
Led by Golkar senior politician Fahmi Idris, the team comprises of politicians from Golkar and the Hanura Party, including former finance minister Fuad Bawazier.
Megawati and Prabowo were also quick to shore up support and form a campaign team, led by PDI-P deputy chairman Theo Syafei.
Gerindra deputy chairman Hashim Djojohadikusumo said the pair would first move to publicly announce their candidacy in rural areas.“It will be for Ibu Mega to decide where she wants to declare the candidacy, but one thing for sure is that it will not be as glamorous as the incumbent’s ceremony,” he said.
He said the reason they chose rural areas was because PDI-P and Gerindra wanted to show they were believers in Indonesia’s grassroots communities. “As for the rest of the strategies, we will do what it takes to win the upcoming presidential election,” he said.
