T

he 2019 presidential election shifted into high gear on Monday with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s coalition unveiling the lineup of its campaign team, while challenger Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Sandiaga Uno, underwent medical examinations at a military hospital.

Senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Pramono Anung, who is also Jokowi’s Cabinet secretary, revealed the names of several coalition members who were assigned to run the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team.

Pramono said Golkar Party secretary-general Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus was one of several deputies, while PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto was assigned the role as secretary and Golkar’s Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita was appointed treasurer.

Also revealed were a number of prominent figures who have pledged to work with the team, including former Constitutional Court justice Mahfud MD and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi.

Parties in the ruling coalition proposed that Vice President Jusuf Kalla should be made the campaign team’s chairman.

“Whether he [Kalla] serves as the team’s chairman or the steering committee’s chairman will be decided by Pak Jokowi after he returns from Lombok,” Pramono said, referring to the West Nusa Tenggara island where a magnitude-7 quake struck last week.

Party leaders in the coalition earlier said Kalla would get a position on the steering committee, but he said on Monday that the decision was not yet official.

Many have speculated that the coalition’s apparent enthusiasm for having Kalla on the campaign team stemmed from a desire to prevent the senior politician from defecting to the other side.

Its concern could be justified as many politicians have in the past jumped ship after failing to get the vice presidential slot including Mahfud who served as the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa campaign team’s chairman after being overlooked as a possible running mate for Jokowi.

However, United Development Party (PPP) secretary-general Arsul Sani said Kalla would stay in the ruling coalition.

“You should not draw your own conclusions that every time [Kalla] is close to someone like [Jakarta Governor] Anies Baswedan it is automatically presumed that he is close to Prabowo too.”

In preparation for the campaign period, which runs from Sept. 23 to April 13, leaders of the political parties in the Jokowi coalition held a briefing for 108 campaign spokespersons who will hit the campaign trail soon.

“Today, every campaign spokesperson was briefed about the strategic aspects of the Jokowi-Kalla administration’s policies, the Nawacita [nine goals], their successes and how they helped push Indonesia in a better direction,” the PDI-P’s Hasto said on Monday.

Some of the figures who will work as campaigners for Jokowi include celebrity lawyers Farhat Abbas and Sunan Kalijaga, television personality Sonny Tulung and actress Zora Vidyanata.

Adin Denny, a Perindo legislative candidate, said the briefing was organized by members of the Office of Presidential Staff (KSP).

“They briefed us on how to communicate with the public because attacks from the opposition are already quite intense,” he added.

Although campaigning only kicks off on Sept. 23, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, early signs indicate that tension could rise, with competing groups of supporters clashing with each other.

Volunteers from the group #2019ChangePresident clashed with Jokowi supporters near the Mandala monument in the city on Sunday. Many were injured in the incident.

In Papua, the Democratic Party’s regional branch declared it would support Jokowi in the race, despite the party’s official backing of the opposition ticket.

Andi Hajramurni in Makassar and Nethy Dharma Somba in Jayapura contributed to the story