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Door open for Anies, Ganjar to join 2024 race
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akarta Governor Anies Baswedan (left), Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo (center) and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil have coffee together at a coffee shop in City Hall in Jakarta on Nov. 5, 2018. The three governors will end their terms this year or next year and be replaced by acting governors. (The Jakarta Post/Callistasia Anggun Wijaya )
T
he door is still wide open for outgoing Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who have consistently topped political surveys, to contest the 2024 presidential race despite alleged attempts by certain elements of the political establishment to keep “outsiders” from the electoral process.
The NasDem Party, the nation’s fourth-largest party and a member of the ruling coalition supporting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, officially announced last week that it would nominate either Anies, Ganjar or the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa — none of whom are the party flag bearers — as its presidential candidate. “We want to nominate the best [candidate] for the sake of the nation. If [he] gets elected, but [then] forgets about NasDem, so be it, that’s our destiny,” NasDem chairman Surya Paloh said on the sideline of the party’s national meeting in Jakarta on Friday.
The three names emerged following a voting mechanism in which the party’s regional executive boards of 34 provinces were asked to propose three to five names as potential presidential candidates. Anies came out first after securing support from 32 regional boards. Meanwhile, Ganjar trailed behind with 29 regional boards.
The final say, however, rests in the hands of Surya. “Whoever we decide later, based on the recommendations that were given to me, I as the party chairman, as the captain, will be responsible and berikhtiar [try] wholeheartedly,” Surya said, adding that he would likely pick a candidate that would have a strong commitment to the party.
‘Political outsiders’
NasDem’s plan to nominate popular figures like Anies and Ganjar came amid claims that members of the ruling coalition have agreed to prevent non-party candidates or “political outsiders” from contesting the presidential race.
This agreement was reportedly reiterated during a meeting between President Jokowi and leaders of seven political parties that support him shortly before announcing his latest Cabinet shake-up, according to sources within the ruling coalition.
