Hatta to join presidential race, but can he compete?

The National Mandate Party (PAN) announced on Monday that its chairman, Hatta Rajasa, will run for president in 2014.

The party will officially nominate the silver-haired politician — a close ally and an in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono — in its national working meeting in North Jakarta from Dec. 9-11, PAN lawmaker Yahdil Abdi Harahap said as quoted by Antara on Monday.

“Pak Hatta’s nomination is backed by our grassroots colleagues and also the executives in the party’s local offices, who said that it is now time for Hatta Rajasa to run for president,” he said.

PAN commission III lawmaker Tjatur Sapto Edy told The Jakarta Post on Monday that it was true that many of the party’s regional branches wanted Hatta to step forward as a presidential candidate. “Pak Hatta himself has yet to confirm his willingness for the candidacy. But if the party wanted to nominate a candidate, then our [party’s] only option is Pak Hatta,” he said.

PAN, a member of the coalition government, decided to announce its presidential candidate early, as it needed extra time to gear up for the 2014 elections, said party member Taslim Chaniago.

He claimed that the party would not endorse its chairman as a vice presidential candidate, as has been suggested by several analysts who doubted that PAN or Hatta had the political leverage to win elections without forming a coalition with Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party.

There has been speculation of a possible coalition between PAN and the President’s party after Yudhoyono’s son, Edhie “Ibas” Bhaskoro, married Hatta’s daughter, Siti Rubi Aliya Rajasa, last month. Rumors have it that Hatta could be nominated as a vice presidential hopeful behind the Democratic Party’s candidate.

The Democrats have yet to announce their candidate, though it is said that they would likely nominate First Lady Ani Yudhoyono or her brother Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, the current army chief of staff.

Yudhoyono and Democratic Party politicians, however, dismissed the speculation, saying the marriage had nothing to do with politics.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political expert Siti Zuhro told the Post that Hatta, now the Coordinating Economic Minister, was well-known as one of the key figures in the Yudhoyono administration, but that means his chances will very much depend on the performance of the incumbent administration.

“In light of that political connection, Hatta’s chances will be determined by how Yudhoyono ends his tenure,” she said.

Siti further explained that Hatta’s political connection to the President could serve as either a blessing or a curse, saying that she doubted he could dominate the nation’s ever changing political landscape.

Yudhoyono’s popularity has continued to decline amid a series of graft scandals involving members of his political party.

He is essentially a lame duck, as the Constitution bars him from running for a third term, but the party continues to face pressure from its rivals, including the Golkar Party, the second-largest party in the coalition.

Hatta will face tough competition in 2014 against Golkar’s Aburizal Bakrie and Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party patron Prabowo Subianto, both of whom had already begun collecting support for their bids to win the presidency.

PAN, however, is convinced that Hatta is a worthy candidate. Taslim said that Hatta had adequate political experience and integrity.

“We believe he [Hatta] could bring the desirable changes that we all want,” Taslim said, adding that the party would have sufficient time to establish a strategy to bring Hatta the presidency. (rpt)