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Three parties ready to nominate Gibran if PDI-P picks another candidate in Surakarta
The Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) have all said they are ready to back the President's son with the blessings of the parties’ leadership at the national level.
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Gibran Rakabuming Raka exits an elevator after taking part in an assessment held at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) office on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on Feb. 10. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
W
hile the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) weighs up whether to nominate President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son in the Surakarta mayoral race in Central Java, other political parties have expressed interest in supporting him.
As he waits for the PDI-P to make its decision, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, a culinary entrepreneur, has received interest from three other parties, the Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which have all said they were ready to back him with blessings from the parties’ leadership at the national level.
Golkar Party deputy chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia said Golkar would support Gibran even if he did not get the nod from the PDI-P, claiming that Golkar had supported Gibran since he first announced he intended to run in the Surakarta race.
“Let the PDI-P follow its internal rules, but we have our own procedures. We have consistently supported Gibran," he said on Friday.
Achmad added that the party was currently seeking to build a coalition with other parties to support the 32-year-old political novice, if the PDI-P decided to back another candidate.
A political party or coalition requires at least nine seats, equal to 20 percent of seats in the Surakarta Legislative Council (DPRD Surakarta), to endorse a mayoral candidate.
Of the 45 seats in the DPRD Surakarta, the PDI-P controls 30 seats, which means it can nominate its own candidates for mayor and deputy mayor.
