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PKB considers backing Muhaimin’s brother in East Java election
The Islamic-based party previously also mulled over backing Marzuki Mustamar, a prominent Muslim cleric and former East Java branch head of the country’s largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), to run against popular former East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa in the province's gubernatorial election in November.
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Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar, who also heads the National Awakening Party's (PKB) regional elections team, talks with reporters during a press briefing at the party's headquarters in Jakarta on June 3, 2024. (Antara/Erlangga Bregas Prakoso)
The National Awakening Party (PKB) is considering backing Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar to run against popular former East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa in the province’s gubernatorial election in November.
PKB deputy chair Jazilul Fawaid said that Abdul Halim, who is also the party’s East Java head and older brother of party chair Muhaimin Iskandar, was quite popular in the province and had garnered much support from the grassroots.
“If he’s running in the election, our [campaign] machine will immediately go on turbo speed. The PKB is big in East Java,” Jazilul said on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He added that the Muslim-based party had been communicating with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to nominate a candidate pair to run against Khofifah, who is seeking reelection in November.
“If we join forces with the PDI-P, we’ll have almost half of the total seats in the regional council,” Jazilul said.
The PKB is the only political party in East Java that is eligible to nominate a candidate pair in the provincial election of its own, as it won 22.5 percent of total provincial council seats in the February legislative election. It was followed by the PDI-P, which managed to secure 17.5 percent of seats in the provincial council.
The Regional Elections Law stipulates that a political party or coalition of parties must secure at least 20 percent of the seats at their respective regional legislatures to be eligible to nominate a candidate pair in the regional head elections.
