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New names touted as presidential aspirants

With the re-emergence of old faces in the race for the 2014 presidential election, several politicians have tried to seek new, qualified and alternative candidates for the nation’s top job

Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, January 2, 2012

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New names touted as presidential aspirants

W

ith the re-emergence of old faces in the race for the 2014 presidential election, several politicians have tried to seek new, qualified and alternative candidates for the nation’s top job.

Although in many recent surveys, new faces did not get into the top five popular presidential candidates list, analysts and political observers believe these figures still have enough time to boost their popularity and acceptability.

One of the new figures touted as a presidential aspirant is Dahlan Iskan, the State-Owned Enterprises Minister.

Dahlan, the founder of the nation’s biggest news network Jawa Pos, was first dubbed as a fresh face for the 2014 presidential election by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party central board executive Ulil Abshar Abdalla.

Ulil said National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Hatta Rajasa would be a perfect match as Dahlan’s running mate in the election. Hatta is the father-in-law of Yudhoyono’s second son Edhie Baskoro.

Many other politicians, including those from other political parties, also commented on Dahlan’s prospects only a day after the minister made a surprising move by taking a public train from Jakarta to Bogor to attend a Cabinet meeting last week.

The move, which was widely reported by the media, triggered massive responses, mostly praising Dahlan for his eagerness as a high-level official to join ordinary citizens in using public transportation.

Ulil’s idea, however, will likely receive strong opposition from PAN politicians as the party has officially named Hatta to run for President in 2014, not merely as a running mate.

PAN executive Viva Yoga Mauladi stated that Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Marshall (ret.) Djoko Suyanto, a figure that is close to the Democratic Party, would be Hatta’s perfect running mate.

“Pairing a Javanese with a non-Javanese as well as military and civilian backgrounds are still important. The Hatta-Djoko duo will meet these combinations,” Viva said.

Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who served as women’s empowerment and child protection minister under the administration of the late former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, has also emerged as a potential vice-presidential candidate.

The former minister is now the chairwoman of the women’s branch of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and her candidacy will be considered important for winning the support of members of NU, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization.

Khofifah is also a former National Awakening Party (PKB) lawmaker, but it was a Golkar Party politician who first named her as a potential vice presidential candidate.

Golkar’s Nurul Arifin recently claimed that party chairman, Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie, had begun developing talks with Khofifah. “Pak Ical also has a good relationship with Ibu Khofifah,” she said.

Nurul also agreed that Dahlan was a good figure to lead the country. But she rejected Ulil’s idea of putting Dahlan as a presidential candidate. “Beside Khofifah, Dahlan is also one of the most suitable vice-presidential candidates to be paired with Pak Ical,” Nurul said.

Meanwhile, United Development Party (PPP) deputy chairman Lukman Hakim Syaifuddin said he really wanted his party to target Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan as its presidential candidate.

“I’ve been ‘falling in love’ [with Anis] since a long time ago. His track record is undoubtedly good. He is clean and young, very plausible for 2014,” Lukman told the press last week.

Beside Anis, Lukman also tipped Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD as a potential figure to run in 2014. Similiar to Khofifah, Mahfud was also a minister in Gus Dur’s Cabinet and was a PKB politician.

Mahfud previously said that he would decide in 2013 whether or not to enter the presidential race.

Patrice Rio Capella, the chairman of the newly established Nasdem Party, meanwhile, said that the party might support Regional Representatives Council speaker Irman Gusman as a presidential candidate.

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