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Rivals Ganjar, Anies 'reunite' on haj as parties scramble over VP discussions
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A local resident walks past a mural on the 2024 presidential election in Kedung Halang, Bogor, West Java, on June 13, 2022. Indonesia will hold its simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on Feb. 14, 2024. (Antara/Arif Firmansyah)
Two presumptive presidential candidates Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan have bumped into each other while on a lunch break during the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
As the potential rivals took a break from politicking to go on this year’s haj, their respective electoral alliances continue to debate internally who will fill the vice-presidential slots.
The meet-up between the two candidates was revealed in a photo that has spread on social media, with the two figures accompanied by their respective families. United Development Party (PPP) politician Suharso Monoarfa, who was also present in the photo, said that the gathering was unplanned.
“I was just happy to see they were sitting close and being friendly, and I didn’t want to lose this historical moment,” Suharso said on Tuesday, as reported by Kompas.com. “They replied that they’ve been friends since attending the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and even laughed as they said they were okay with taking a photo together."
Anies, who has the backing of the opposition-leaning Coalition for Change and Unity (KPP), has often been portrayed as having an adversarial relationship with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The ruling party backed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the last two elections and which has nominated Ganjar as his presumptive successor for 2024.
Democratic Party spokesman Herzaky Mahendra Putra, one of the three parties that make up the KPP, welcomed the meeting between Ganjar and Anies. “This is a reminder that even if our [political] choices differ, there’s no reason for us to be antagonistic and close all communication," Herzaky said in a written statement.
The Democratic Party, which has had a chilly relationship with the PDI-P since 2004, recently showed signs of warming ties with the ruling party. Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono met with PDI-P executive Puan Maharani last week, with both Puan and Agus declaring their hopes of further continued correspondence between the two erstwhile opposing parties.
