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Megawati dashes hopes of 2024 candidate reveal
In the middle of a rambling two-hour-plus speech on Tuesday, the PDI-P matriarch said no candidates would be announced today, while reiterating that the final choice was "my prerogative".
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri delivers a speech on Aug. 8, 2019 during the opening ceremony of the fifth PDI-P congress. The congress was held until Aug. 11 in Sanur, Bali. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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efying expectations that she would announce the presidential pick of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) today, chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri said she was keeping to her own timetable and that no candidate would be announced anytime soon.
"For all those who are waiting, not today. That's my prerogative," Megawati said midway through a two-hour-plus speech at the PDI-P’s 50th anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
Speculation had been rife that Megawati would reveal the party’s presidential pick on Jan. 10, when she was scheduled to make a big speech to mark the party's 50th anniversary.
Megawati said later in her speech that she was intrigued by the media’s massive coverage of the party's commemorative event, saying it was an ordinary event.
"There are more than 150 media outlets, including some from overseas. I wonder why, because this is just a regular party event," she told the crowd.
Megawati hinted, however, that she might announce the party’s candidates in early June, when the PDI-P was expected to hold a large rally at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium in Central Jakarta to celebrate the birth of Pancasila, the country's founding principles.
"We could have held today's celebration at the GBK, but it is still under renovation. But come June, we will have a massive rally there, so be ready," she said.
On Monday, House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani, who is also Megawati’s daughter, said the PDI-P leader had chosen the party's 2024 presidential candidate and that she would make her choice public "as scheduled".
