T

he 2019 presidential election is still three years away, but the Golkar Party has already launched an aggressive campaign in the regions for its presidential nominee: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

In many of its events across Indonesia, the party has erected banners, billboards and other paraphernalia bearing Jokowi’s image, side by side with pictures of Golkar party chairman Setya Novanto, secretary-general Idrus Marham and treasurer Robert Joppy Kardinal. At a Golkar office in West Jakarta, banners could also be seen, again with Jokowi’s image.

Golkar spokeswoman Nurul Arifin said on Saturday that the move was a follow up to the party’s decision to officially back Jokowi, which was made at Golkar’s national leadership meeting (Rapimnas) on July 27.

“It is an expression of Golkar party support for Jokowi. There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said on Sunday.

It is not unusual for the country’s oldest established party to campaign for its presidential nominee early. Three years before the 2014 election, the party had campaigned for then party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, said Ace Hasan Syadzily, another Golkar spokesman.

Golkar chairman Setya has said the support thrown behind Jokowi was a strategy to help the party reach its target in the next election of winning 120 seats in the House of Representatives. He also said that it was a way to associate Jokowi with Golkar.

The strategy, barely a month after its implementation, seems to be paying off.

A national survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia conducted from Aug. 1 to 9, only a few days after Golkar stated its official support for the President, found that Golkar’s electability stood at 16 percent. The survey questioned 1,220 eligible voters chosen randomly.

“Last year, when Golkar was still active as a leading voice in the opposition Red-and-White Coalition in the House, its electability was only between 9 and 10 percent,” political commentator Burhanuddin Muhtadi of Indikator Politik Indonesia (IPI) told The Jakarta Post.

Nurul said the fact that Golkar’s electability had risen was a result of its political work, claiming that any other parties could also do the same thing as long as they communicated with Jokowi.

After two years in office, Jokowi remains popular, despite a series of scandals that have called his leadership into question.

Based on the Indikator survey, a clear majority of voters, 68 percent, are satisfied with the performance of President Jokowi. The level of confidence in the President’s ability to lead the nation is also high at 78 percent. (win)