The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the victor of the 2019 general election, has finally declared Mahfud MD to be the running mate of the party’s presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo for the 2024 election. That declaration, made amid President Joko ‘’Jokowi’’ Widodo’s shaky support for his fellow PDI-P member, was seen as the PDI-P asserting its confidence even if Jokowi eventually supports rival presidential contender Prabowo Subianto.

With the announcement, Indonesian voters have a clearer image of who will be on the 2024 presidential ballot paper after another candidate pair of Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin ‘’Cak Imin’’ Iskandar was revealed last month. All eyes are now turning to Prabowo Subianto, who is still mulling over a few alternatives, including Jokowi’s son and Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuning Raka, who is now eligible to be a vice-presidential candidate following a Constitutional Court ruling issued on Monday.

Megawati explained that Mahfud was a perfect fit for Ganjar as the former had a complete background of occupying all the executive, legislative and judiciary positions. Mahfud MD is the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister in Jokowi’s current cabinet. He served as a legislator from the National Awakening Party (PKB) from 2004-2009. After that, he served as Constitutional Court chief justice. In addition, Mahfud has strong ties with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia, and is confident that he is able to gather votes from the Muslim community, intellectuals and minority groups in the country. Because of his complete background, Mahfud was twice thought likely to be picked by Jokowi to be his vice-presidential candidate back in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections but was overridden by Jusuf Kalla and Ma’ruf Amin, respectively.

President Jokowi and his oldest son Gibran, both still card-carrying PDI-P members, were notably absent during the Mahfud announcement as the former was on an overseas tour to China and Saudi Arabia while the latter was intentionally not invited. Their absence has sharpened the view that Jokowi’s support is likely to fall behind Prabowo, rather than Ganjar.

For Gibran, his absence from the Mahfud announcement was his second consecutive absence from the PDI-P agenda after he did not show up at the opening ceremony of the PDI-P’s new office building in his own mayoral town of Surakarta, attended virtually by Megawati. The emergence of his name as one of the strongest candidates for Prabowo's running mate in the 2024 campaign also makes things even cloudier between Jokowi’s clan and the PDI-P.

Jokowi’s wavering support for his own party and Ganjar has been exposed through several events, among others being the recent announcement by Jokowi’s loyalist organization Pro-Jokowi, or Projo, of its support for Prabowo. Projo chief Budi Arie who is also Jokowi’s minister of communications and information, said that Projo’s backing for Prabowo was in line with Jokowi’s wishes. Although Jokowi himself has been working for Ganjar’s campaign strategy as PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto claims, many have acknowledged that Jokowi will not go against his own supporters in Projo as this organization is regarded as his loyal defenders. In addition, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which is now led by President Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep, is inclined to support Prabowo.

Puan Maharani, Megawati’s daughter, has no idea where Jokowi’s support in the upcoming election lies. On another occasion, former general Andika Perkasa, Ganjar’s campaign official, predicted that Jokowi’s support will significantly reshape the political landscape among presidential candidates ahead of the upcoming election.

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