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Golkar to back Khofifah's reelection bid for East Java governor
While the "grand old" party is set on backing the former governor and her deputy in the November elections, seemingly contradictory statements from Golkar's East Java head as well as other potential backers point to a possible battle in the province's gubernatorial race.
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Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto (left) talks to the press on May 17, 2024 at his residence in Jakarta, along with East Java’s former governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa (center) and former deputy governor Emil Elestianto Dardak, to declare the pair as the party’s gubernatorial ticket for the province in the regional head elections on Nov. 27. (Antara/Reno Esnir )
T
he Golkar Party announced on Friday that it would be backing East Java’s former governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa and former deputy governor Emil Dardak as its gubernatorial ticket for the province during the regional head elections in November’s simultaneous regional elections.
As rival parties scramble to find worthy candidates to oppose the Golkar-backed pair in the country’s second most populous province, experts say the November elections will be a relative walk in the park for Khofifah and her deputy.
Khofifah and Emil’s terms ended in February, just a day before the 2024 general election on Feb. 14. East Java is currently led by acting governor Adhy Karyono.
Golkar chairman Airlangga Hartarto said the party’s decision was swayed by Khofifah and Emil’s record in tackling extreme poverty and handling the impacts of COVID-19 in East Java.
Airlangga added that he had approached other parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) to gain their support for the Khofifah-Emil pair.
The Golkar-led KIM was the electoral alliance behind winning presidential pair Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka in February’s general election, and includes Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN).
“In East Java, the KIM [gained] 52 percent of the vote, so this is enough,” Airlangga told a press conference on Friday, referring to the threshold for nominating a candidate in the regional head elections.
