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Mahfud offered VP slot as PKS continues search for Anies’ running mate
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD greets journalists during the announcement of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's Cabinet on Oct. 23, 2019. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
With negotiations still ongoing to determine Anies Baswedan’s running mate for 2024, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD recently revealed that he had discussions with Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Ahmad Syaikhu to fill that position.
“I didn’t confirm either way, as my focus right now is in ensuring that the election goes forward as scheduled,” Mahfud said on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.com. “I told them that their priority should be in making sure that the coalition remains solid so they don’t lose their presidential ticket.”
The minister said aside from the chairman, other senior PKS politicians attended the meeting, including Al Muzammil Yusuf. The PKS, together with the NasDem Party and the Democratic Party, have declared their support for Anies in the 2024 presidential election.
Styling themselves as the Coalition for Change, the three parties hold around 28 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives, granting them the right to nominate a candidate for 2024. Initially, coalition talks between the three parties stalled over disagreements on who should be the former Jakarta governor’s running mate.
The Democrats insist on nominating their own chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono for the position while the PKS initially wanted to pair Anies with former West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan. As talks progressed, the two parties eventually softened their stance, agreeing to let Anies make the final call as NasDem has suggested all along.
PKS chairman Syaikhu confirmed that the point of the meeting was to narrow down the former Jakarta governor’s running mate, but stressed that Mahfud was only one name on the list. “We plan on meeting other figures to solicit their opinions and we will even ask some of them to consider running as vice president,” Syaikhu said on Tuesday, as quoted from kompas.com.
NasDem revealed last week that Mahfud’s name had come up during internal discussions on Anies’ running mate. While the minister’s electability remains relatively low, Mahfud’s profile has risen in recent months over his public crusade over the Rp 349 trillion (US$23.2 billion) of suspicious transactions coming out of the Finance Ministry.
