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No easy fight for Jokowi camp
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the winner of the April legislative election, could lose the chance to return to power should it fail to anticipate the aggressive moves of its ally-turned-rival, the Gerindra Party
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The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the winner of the April legislative election, could lose the chance to return to power should it fail to anticipate the aggressive moves of its ally-turned-rival, the Gerindra Party.
As the General Elections Commission (KPU) closed registration for the presidential election on Tuesday, the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa pair emerged as the Goliath in the competition with the support of six political parties: Gerindra, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).
Gerindra was also quick to rally support from a number of influential figures, such as former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD and media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who controls the nation's largest media company, the MNC Group.
On Tuesday, Prabowo appointed Mahfud, who was among a number of potential presidential candidates endorsed by the National Awakening Party (PKB), as head of his campaign team. 'I have met [Mahfud] and he said he had received consent from prominent religious figures. Thank God, he is willing [to accept],' Prabowo told reporters after submitting the registration papers for his nomination at KPU headquarters.
Besides Mahfud, Gerindra also recruited dangdut singer-cum-religious preacher Rhoma Irama as a member of its campaign team. Rhoma, who was also touted as a presidential candidate by the PKB and claimed to have been an effective vote-getter, decided to defect after the party joined the PDI-P-led coalition to support the candidacy of Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
The appointment of Mahfud, who is very popular among members of the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), is seen as part of Prabowo's move to attract the Muslim electorate. In an apparent attempt to evoke religious sentiment, Prabowo and Hatta prayed at a mosque before visiting the KPU.
According to the latest surveys, the widely popular Jokowi ' who is supported by the PDI-P, the NasDem Party, the PKB and the Hanura Party ' still outshines Prabowo in terms of electability, even though the gap is narrowing.
Results from a survey conducted by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI), which were released on Tuesday, found that Jokowi and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, would garner 35.42 percent of the vote if the presidential election was held today, beating Prabowo and Hatta, who would gain 22.75 percent of the vote. The LSI, however, also found that a substantial number of voters (41.83 percent) were as yet undecided.
Both Jokowi and Prabowo were equally recognizable, the pollster said, with more than 90 percent of respondents saying they knew or had heard of both contenders.
University of Indonesia (UI) political analyst Arbi Sanit said the PDI-P should be wary of Gerindra's moves.
'The strategy that is being implemented by Prabowo, which is to approach a number of people who are disappointed because they failed to get a position in the PDI-P's camp, will have a significant impact,' he said.
'One thing that the PDI-P and its coalition can do is to fully use the influence of Jusuf Kalla and, at the same time, reach out to the grass roots.'
PDI-P executive Puan Maharani said the party and its coalition respected Mahfud's choice and expressed her confidence about winning the presidential race. 'We believe that the upcoming election is a competition between figures, not parties. It's better to let the voters choose their leaders. We believe that our voters know who's best to lead them.'
She said the PDI-P camp would also be approaching a number of influential figures at the national and local levels, but she declined to name names.
PDI-P deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristianto said each of the coalition members would later appoint influential figures to join the Jokowi-Kalla campaign team 'Some of the participants of the Democratic Party's presidential convention will also join us,' Hasto said.
