T

he race for the top post in East Java has begun to heat up after the National Awakening Party (PKB), the largest party in the province, decided to nominate Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf for the 2018 gubernatorial election.

The party announced the political endorsement in front of 1,421 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics at Bhumi Sholawat Islamic Boarding School in Lebo district, Sidoarjo regency on Thursday, NU is the nation’s largest Islamic organization with East Java being one of its main strongholds.

The nomination of Saifullah, popularly known as Gus Ipul, is a setback to the political ambition of Abdul Halim Iskandar, the chairman of the party’s East Java chapter and the brother of party chairman Muhaimin Iskandar.

Abdul previously claimed that he had gained the support of party chapters in 38 regencies and municipalities in the province.

But Abdul failed to get the blessing of NU clerics, who have requested that they be given a say in the nomination process.

The PKB was founded by former NU chairman Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and has for years built a strong support base among NU members.

“As all the clerics and ulema across East Java have given their approval, I ask the party’s provincial chapter to follow what they said, which is to nominate Saifullah Yusuf as gubernatorial candidate,” Muhaimin said.

He also asked his elder brother Halim to accept the decision, telling him that the PKB was a political party that would obey and follow what the clerics said.

Previously, 20 senior NU clerics sent a letter to the PKB’s East Java chapter demanding that the party nominate an NU figure as the next governor of East Java.

He further argued that regardless of the clerics’ approval, the decision to nominate Saifullah was based on rational political calculation.

Apart from his political experience, Saifullah is known as an NU scholar or santri. East Java, Muhaimin said, had never been led by a NU official before. “If we succeed, Gus Ipul will be the first PKB politician to become a governor,” said Muhaimin.

The PKB currently holds 20 seats in the East Java legislative council. This means it is eligible to nominate its own governor candidate.

Muhaimin said his party would open communication with other parties to support its candidate, by offering the position of deputy gubernatorial candidate. “Pak Halim could be nominated as deputy governor, but we will first open communication with other parties for the position.”

The toughest rival for Saifullah could be Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is also chairwoman of the NU’s women’s wing Muslimat.

Although her candidacy is not yet official at least two political parties have expressed interest in nominating her.

They are the Golkar Party with 11 seats in the legislative council and the Nasdem Party with four seats.

If the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) joins in her nomination, she will get an additional 13 seats, meaning that she will be eligible to stand as a gubernatorial candidate.

The Initiative Institute in polling said that there were three names with high electability in the East Java governor race, namely Saifullah, Khofifah and Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini.

The institute’s CEO Airlangga Pribadi said Saifullah had the highest popularity with 82.2 percent, followed by Khofifah with 81.4 percent and Risma with 75.4 percent.

“The survey was conducted between April 13-19, 2017 using a multistage random sampling method involving 956 respondents of above 17 years of age across East Java,” Airlangga said.