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Door open for Anies to join 2024 race
Surya says NasDem ready to endorse nonparty figures for upcoming presidential election.
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he door is still wide open for outgoing Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, who have consistently topped political surveys, to contest the 2024 presidential race despite alleged attempts by certain elements of the political establishment to keep “outsiders” from the electoral process.
The NasDem Party, the nation’s fourth-largest party and a member of the ruling coalition supporting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, officially announced last week that it would nominate either Anies, Ganjar or the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa — none of whom are the party flag bearers — as its presidential candidate.
“We want to nominate the best [candidate] for the sake of the nation. If [he] gets elected, but [then] forgets about NasDem, so be it, that’s our destiny,” NasDem chairman Surya Paloh said on the sideline of the party’s national meeting in Jakarta on Friday.
The three names emerged following a voting mechanism in which the party’s regional executive boards of 34 provinces were asked to propose three to five names as potential presidential candidates. Anies came out first after securing support from 32 regional boards. Meanwhile, Ganjar trailed behind with 29 regional boards.
The final say, however, rests in the hands of Surya. “Whoever we decide later, based on the recommendations that were given to me, I as the party chairman, as the captain, will be responsible and berikhtiar [try] wholeheartedly,” Surya said, adding that he would likely pick a candidate that would have a strong commitment to the party.
‘Political outsiders’
NasDem’s plan to nominate popular figures like Anies and Ganjar came amid claims that members of the ruling coalition have agreed to prevent non-party candidates or “political outsiders” from contesting the presidential race.
This agreement was reportedly reiterated during a meeting between President Jokowi and leaders of seven political parties that support him shortly before announcing his latest Cabinet shake-up, according to sources within the ruling coalition.
The reshuffle, which was carried out to officially include the National Mandate Party (PAN) into the ruling coalition, practically leaves the opposition camp, now comprising only the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Party (PD), with no choice but to form an alliance with one of the ruling parties to contest the 2024 race. The two parties do not have enough seats combined to field their presidential candidate.
One of the sources told The Jakarta Post that the election of popular non-party figures could end up undermining the authority of political parties. “If one has money and wants to join the race, one must go through political parties,” the source said.
Other members of the ruling coalition, however, have refuted the claim, saying they were not aware of the political deal to reject non-party candidates
NasDem deputy chairman Ahmad Ali said that the party had no issue with nominating non-party figures. “It would be wrong to think that political parties were formed for the benefit of its cadres alone. That's one of the factors that creates a distance between people and political parties,” he said. “NasDem is open to all people, children of the nation who have the capacity. We give opportunities to professionals, academics, and activists. If they don’t have a party and want to be a president or a governor, we will facilitate it.”
President Jokowi, who is an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member, was widely considered a political outsider when he ran for president in 2014. It was his stints as Surakarta mayor and Jakarta governor that earned him the top spot in various political surveys, setting the trend for other popular governors such as Ganjar, Anies,and West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.
Pro-Anies alliance
NasDem support for Anies, if approved by Surya, could be game-changing. The Jakarta governor, who became the face of the opposition following his decision to challenge then-Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Jokowi ally, in the 2017 Jakarta election — lacks the political support to join the 2024 race, especially with the opposition parties — PD and PKS — not having enough seats to nominate a candidate.
Its support for Ganjar would also be a boon for the Central Java governor, given that there is no indication yet that his party, the PDI-P, will field him in the upcoming election. Ganjar, like Jokowi, is not seen as part of the party establishment and is now competing with Puan Maharani, the daughter of party matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri, for the presidential nomination.
As it controls only 10 percent of seats in the House of Representatives, NasDem must ally with other parties to nominate a candidate. Prevailing regulations require that a political party must have at least 25 percent of the vote in the last election in 2019 or have 115 — or 20 percent — of the 575 seats in the House.
The PKS has signaled its intention to join forces with NasDem if it chooses to nominate Anies, saying that he is popular among PKS voters. “We will have a national meeting on Monday. One of the agenda is to hear the aspirations from the regional executive boards regarding the potential presidential candidates that the PKS will endorse,” PKS secretary-general Aboe Bakar Alhabsyi told reporters on Saturday. (ahw)
