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.
Mahfud reveals why he paired up with Ganjar instead of Anies
Vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD revealed his reasons for refusing an offer to be Anies Baswedan’s running mate and choosing Ganjar Pranowo instead.
Change Size
Vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD (left) receives a gift from a student representative of Andalas University (Unand) after a discussion of his camp’s platform hosted by the Andalas Lawyers Club in Padang, West Sumatra, on Dec. 18, 2023. Mahfud briefed the students on his and presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo’s eight-pronged quick win strategy for the 2024 presidential election. (Antara/Iggoy el Fitra)
Vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD has explained his reasons for choosing to be the running mate for presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo instead of Anies Baswedan in the 2024 presidential election.
Mahfud said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) initially offered him to be the running mate for Anies.
"I said no to them. Why? Because their coalition was about to break up at that time,” he said during a public lecture at Bung Hatta University in Padang on Monday, as quoted by detik.com.
“The Democratic Party, led by Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono [AHY], said it would leave the coalition if the PKS did not nominate AHY [as vice president]."
Mahfud was concerned about being accused of dividing the coalition, because if he accepted the offer to run as vice presidential candidate and the Democratic Party left the coalition, it would not meet the requirements for submitting a presidential candidate.
"Second, what do Anies and NasDem want to achieve in the future? We hadn’t talked about the vision. So, I refused,” Mahfud.
Mahfud said President Joko “Widodo” Widodo should not be accused of influencing the coalition breakup and that Mahfud had refused to be vice presidential candidate if it meant breaking the coalition.
