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Dems to decide on gubernatorial candidate by mid-August
The Democratic Party will continue to debate on potential candidates for the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election before reaching a decision by Aug. 17, the party’s deputy chairman Sjarifuddin Hasan said on Monday.
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Democratic Party deputy chairman Sjarifuddin Hasan speaks to the press at the party's headquarters. (tribunnews.com/Herudin)
The Democratic Party will continue to debate on potential candidates for the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election before reaching a decision by Aug. 17, the party’s deputy chairman Sjarifuddin Hasan said on Monday.
He said the party had been monitoring a number of potential figures and would make a decision based on the possible candidates’ approval ratings, integrity and competencies.
“The Dems will discuss the candidacy in a meeting of the party’s high council led by Pak SBY [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] in the second week of August,” Sjarifuddin told journalists at the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta.
The Democratic Party has opened the door to establishing a coalition with other political parties, including the Gerindra Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), to a nominate a gubernatorial ticket, he added.
The Dems are the fourth largest political party in the city with 10 seats on the City Council. The party needs to establish a coalition with other parties to meet the threshold of 22 seats required to nominate a gubernatorial ticket.
Speaking about the political climate in the city, Sjarifuddin predicted that there would be three pairs of candidates in the 2017 gubernatorial election.
First is Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who has been nominated by a coalition of three parties — the Golkar Party, Hanura Party and NasDem Party. Meanwhile, the PDI-P, which has 28 seats, could name its own candidate pair. Another ticket could be nominated by a coalition of the Democratic Party, the United Development Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN). (bbn)
