Former Indonesian ambassador to the United States Dino Patti Djalal has said that he was optimistic about his chances of winning the nomination during the Democratic Party'€™s presidential convention, even though he had never been President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s first choice for a successor.

'€œDo you know who is supposed to be sitting here? Andi Mallarangeng,'€ Dino told The Jakarta Post during a visit to its office on Tuesday.

Andi, whom Dino described as a '€œpolitical animal'€, is the former youth and sports minister who was ousted after being charged by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for his alleged role in the Hambalang sports complex graft case.

Before joining the Cabinet, Andi was Yudhoyono'€™s spokesperson for domestic affairs and also a member of the patron board at the Democratic Party, which is chaired by the President.

Dino said Yudhoyono had actually been grooming Andi for a long time to become one of his potential successors.

'€œHowever, Andi got into trouble [....] Pak SBY [Yudhoyono] then contacted me and asked me if I was interested in running in the presidential candidacy race at the convention. So, I decided to give it a try,'€ Dino said.

Eleven contestants are now vying to become the Democratic Party'€™s presidential candidate.

Favorite'€™s in the race include Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Paramadina University Rector Anies Baswedan and former Indonesian Military (TNI) Army chief Gen. (ret) Pramono Edhie Wibowo, who is also Yudhoyono'€™s brother-in-law.

Many have said candidates in the Democratic Party presidential convention were playing a losing game as Pramono would certainly win.

Dino shrugged off the notion.

'€œThe President had met with all the candidates and promised us that there would be no '€˜golden boy'€™. Victory in the convention will be based purely on national survey results,'€ Dino said.

Dino also denied that his decision to join the race was to boost his popularity so that he could be named as a minister in the next Cabinet.

'€œIn my current capacity, jobs at ministerial levels will come to me,'€ he said.

Dino left his post as the country'€™s ambassador to the US last year to join the convention. Like Andi, he has also served as a spokesperson for Yudhoyono on foreign affairs.

Dino has on numerous occasions been cited as a potential successor to Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. When Gita became trade minister and left his post at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Dino was also a favorite to replace him due to his vast network and relationships with foreign investors.

Dino said that winning the convention was not his larger goal, but rather to promote a concept he called '€œwinning nationalism'€.

Winning nationalism, according to Dino, was different from typical, narrow-minded nationalism. He said that nationalist spirit should be driven by the ability to spark creativity and innovation to enable the nation to compete globally.

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