Agus, the son of the party's patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said he was exploring the possibility of running in the election as Kalla's vice president should a potential Kalla-AHY ticket manage to garner enough support.

"It [the Kalla-AHY option] is definitely under our consideration," Agus stated at his office in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

Agus said, however, that the Democratic Party would remain open to other possibilities, and would continue to study other potential candidates.

Agus said that among the requirements he looked for from a potential partner in the election was the ability to help set up a coalition of parties that would control 20 percent of seats in the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the popular vote, the presidential threshold required by the 2017 Elections Law.

"We must make careful calculations. No matter how enthusiastic we are, we must remember there is the presidential threshold we must fulfill [in order to nominate a presidential candidate pair]," Agus said. 

He added that the Democratic Party would carefully search for partners it could establish a coalition with that would meet the presidential threshold requirement. 

The Democratic Party's move to consider a Kalla-AHY ticket emerged following the party's recent announcement of its aspiration to establish "Koalisi Kerakyatan" (Populist Coalition) as an alternative to the ruling coalition that is set to back President Joko "Jokowi" Widow's bid for a second term. (ebf)

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