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upporters of Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, who are hoping he will run for president, may soon have their prayers answered after several Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians gave a clear signal on Monday that the party'€™s chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, had agreed to Jokowi'€™s nomination.

But analysts have warned that the signal might merely be the PDI-P'€™s strategy to win votes ahead of the April 9 legislative election, saying that Megawati could change her mind at the last minute. Megawati, who is herself a former president, has been mandated the sole decision maker for the PDI-P'€™s presidential nomination.

Previously, Megawati said the PDI-P, currently the largest opposition in the House of Representatives, would announce its presidential candidate after the April election. But party executive and senior PDI-P lawmaker Hendrawan Supratikno said that Megawati had eventually succumbed to the mounting pressure from party members nationwide to name Jokowi the party'€™s presidential candidate.

'€œThe majority of PDI-P supporters in almost all constituencies want Jokowi to be named the presidential candidate before the legislative election [on April 9],'€ Hendrawan said.

'€œTheir argument was to prevent voters from '€˜buying a cat in a sack'€™. Megawati has taken this aspiration on board,'€ he added.

Several pollsters conducted surveys that showed the PDI-P'€™s electoral power would be boosted by 5 to 10 percent if Jokowi'€™s nomination was announced before the legislative election. This means that many people who are not PDI-P supporters may well vote for the party in April if it announces Jokowi'€™s nomination beforehand.

'€œJokowi'€™s nomination could boost the PDI-P'€™s electability rating by more than 30 percent,'€ Charta Politika political analyst Arya Fernandes said.

If Jokowi was eventually nominated, he continued, the Gerindra Party'€™s chairman, Prabowo Subianto, would be the only contender who could pose a threat to the Jakarta governor in the presidential race.

The PDI-P has for some time been riddled by internal rifts over Jokowi'€™s nomination. While party executives have played it down, calling it '€œnormal political dynamics'€, some other party members told The Jakarta Post that there was still some resistance.

'€œThe electability rating of Prabowo'€™s Gerindra is quite strong. He has been touted to pick the National Mandate Party'€™s [PAN] Hatta Rajasa as his vice presidential candidate. That is a fairly strong option but Prabowo, in my opinion, must also consider choosing the PDI-P'€™s other popular candidate to distract PDI-P supporters,'€ Arya said, referring to popular Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, who last month won the World Mayor of the Month award held by a UK-based organization.

As for the Golkar Party, which according to many surveys may be the runner-up in the legislative election, it should keep an eye on its former chairman, Jusuf Kalla, Arya said.

'€œKalla is popular, particularly in eastern Indonesia. Jokowi could end up being paired with the former vice president. This would not only be a good strategy to gather more voters but it would also split the electoral power of Golkar, which is the PDI-P'€™s strongest competitor,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, United Development Party (PPP) executive Hasrul Azwar said his party had been eyeing the PDI-P to form a coalition for the presidential election.

But he voiced his objection to Jokowi running. '€œHe needs to accomplish what he has been mandated to do as Jakarta governor,'€ Hasrul said.

'€œJokowi is a media darling. No wonder surveys have shown his high electability rating. But they do not necessarily reflect the real situation in the elections to come,'€ he said, adding that the PPP was aiming tio secure 12 percent of legislative votes.