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New poll schedule revives two-horse scenario
The idea has now been revived after the General Elections Commission (KPU) officially moved the deadline for presidential election registration from Nov 25 to Oct 25.
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Security guards walk in front of flags of political parties participating in the 2024 General Elections at the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Jakarta on July 24, 2023. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
Political party elites have revived the idea of forming a big-tent coalition in order to have a two-horse race in the upcoming presidential election, after the poll organizer officially moved the registration deadline from late November to late October.
The proposal to have only two pairs of candidates contesting the Feb. 14 election, which would be intended to save the country from having to hold a costly runoff election, had appeared dead after the pro-government parties, particularly the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party, failed to agree on which party would get the presidential slot on the ticket, the PDI-P’s Ganjar Pranowo or Gerindra’s Prabowo Subianto.
The idea has now been revived after the General Elections Commission (KPU) officially moved the deadline for presidential election registration from Nov 25 to Oct 25, forcing Prabowo’s Indonesia Onward Coalition (KIM) and Ganjar’s PDI-P-led electoral alliance to scramble to find running mates for their presumptive presidential nominees.
With the clock ticking faster, party elites are now rehashing the proposal to pair the two election frontrunners, leaving the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar candidate pair from the Coalition of Change for Unity (KPP), as the only other election contender.
Puan Maharani of the PDI-P central executive board said on Thursday that it was “a possibility” for Ganjar to be paired with Prabowo. Such a scenario, she said, would be especially possible if the political situation showed that a Ganjar-Prabowo pairing would deliver the best outcome for the country. "The current political dynamics allow us to meet [continuously] to make deals on what we believe is best for the nation," she told reporters after a House of Representatives plenary meeting, as quoted by Antara. “We’ll see the dynamics within a month.”
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Ganjar himself did not rule out such a possibility. "In politics, before it is officially decided by the KPU, all possibilities can happen,” he said, briefly.
