TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Vice-presidential candidates in focus in alliance talks
Change Size
Flags of political party participating in the 2024 election are seen in the parking lot of the office of Bekasi Regency General Elections Commission (KPU) in West Java in this undated photo. (Antara/Pradita Kurniawan Syah)
Political jockeying among political parties looking to expand their electoral alliances continues to intensify, with the topic of potential vice-presidential candidates at the center of all negotiations.
The registration for next year’s presidential election will open in three months. The election is shaping up to be a hotly contested three-horse race backed by different political-party coalitions, with Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan as the presumptive candidates.
Parties are rallying behind their candidates to fill the vice-presidential nominee slots, a key factor that could turn the tide of the presidential race. All three candidates have consistently topped numerous recent opinion surveys with only narrow gaps between their respective electability ratings.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Ganjar’s main supporter, has kept its cards close to its chest on its candidate’s running mate, in an effort to pull more allies into its fold. The PDI-P is the only party eligible to field its own presidential and vice-presidential candidate pairing, should it wish to do so.
The PDI-P has invited leaders of the Hanura Party, Perindo Party and the United Development Party (PPP) to put forward their offers on the vice-presidential slot at the negotiation table. The three parties have struck deals with the ruling party to back Ganjar’s presidential bid.
The PPP joining the PDI-P’s coalition has changed the constellation. The Islamic party was one of the founding members of the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB), an electoral alliance led by the Golkar Party. The KIB had been viewed by analysts as Golkar chairman Airlangga Hartarto’s electoral vehicle in the presidential race.
The PDI-P is still looking to expand its alliance, with its politicians remaining in contact with the National Awakening Party (PKB), currently making up one-half of the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition (KKIR) with the Gerindra Party. Politicians from the PKB and PDI-P met last Tuesday for a preliminary discussion ahead of the upcoming meeting between the party leaders.
