As the leading party in the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB), which has pooled more than enough votes to field its own candidate, Golkar has the political leverage to shape the five-yearly democratic contest for the country’s top job. But the party appears to have taken a wait-and-see approach in the lead-up to 2024.

One reason for this is ethical. The party has said it was respecting the fact that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo still had around two years left in his second and final term, and that “prematurely” declaring electoral bids could undermine his presidency.

“There will be pebbles in the shoe if too many presidential candidates are announced prematurely because we are facing high global uncertainty. This is the time for us to tackle these challenges, not to have differing opinions,” Golkar chair Airlangga Hartanto, who is also Jokowi’s Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister, said in his speech at the party’s 58th anniversary celebration last week.

‘Don’t be reckless’

The anniversary event was also attended by President Jokowi and other party leaders, including NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh who has formally declared former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as the party’s presidential nominee.

NasDem is the second party in the ruling coalition to declare its support for Jokowi’s potential successor after Gerindra, which has again nominated its chairman, Prabowo Subianto, the incumbent defense minister, to contest the presidency.

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