Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo has reached out to opponent Anies Baswedan’s camp ahead of the official campaign period over shared concerns about the state apparatus’ neutrality in next year’s election.

Last Sunday, Ganjar, the candidate backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), visited the residence of businessman and political heavyweight Jusuf Kalla, a longtime ally and supporter of Anies, the candidate who is positioning himself as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s antithesis.

Despite serving as vice president during Jokowi’s first term, Kalla has in recent years grown critical of his former running mate.

He lent his voice to a chorus of critics who said Jokowi was misusing his power to establish a political dynasty and was allowing nepotism to undermine the country’s democracy, following a controversial Constitutional Court ruling in October that cleared the way for Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the President’s eldest son, to run for vice president in the 2024 election.

Speaking after the meeting with Ganjar, Kalla said the two shared similar concerns over the neutrality of the police and Indonesian Military (TNI), whose chiefs are both staunch Jokowi loyalists.

“In a situation like this, we hope public officials – whether in the government, police, military or other state institutions – will be neutral and help to ensure the elections will be held safely,” Kalla said.

The meeting came amid reports of police officers taking down posters of Ganjar in several cities. In separate incidents, the officers replaced the Ganjar posters with ones depicting presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, who has Gibran as his vice presidential candidate, or posters of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), currently led by Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep.

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