“As a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P], I uphold Bung Karno’s mandate to continue supporting Palestine’s independence,” Ganjar said on Thursday in Semarang, Central Java, referring to the first Indonesian president Sukarno, whose daughter Megawati Soekarnoputri is chair of the party.

“We know Bung Karno’s commitment to Palestine, whether in the Asia-Africa Conference, the nonaligned movement or in the Conference of the New Emerging Forces. So, we follow his mandate,” he said.

Earlier this month, Bali Governor Wayan Koster requested Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali to ban the Israeli soccer team from participating in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Bali, saying it was “out of respect” for Indonesia’s diplomatic stance on the Palestine issue.

The longstanding conflict between Palestine and Israel was “a serious regional problem”, Koster said in a letter he sent to Amali recently. “[There is no] diplomatic relationship between the Indonesian government and the Israeli government. [...] We request the Minister adopt a policy forbidding the Israeli team from competing in Bali,” Wayan wrote in the letter, dated on March 14, which went viral.

Central Java and Bali, just like all provinces in Indonesia, are less than two years away from the 2024 simultaneous regional elections.

Ganjar remains the frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, while his top potential challengers former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and Gerindra Party leader Prabowo Subianto find themselves in a tight race, according to the latest public-opinion poll issued this week.

A survey from Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) conducted from March 2-11 shows Ganjar would remain the frontrunner, garnering 35.5 percent of support among respondents, followed by Prabowo (27.2 percent) and Anies (24.8 percent), if the elections were held immediately.

Ganjar’s electability rose by at least 1.5 percent from the 33.7 percent in a survey polled in December last year, widening his lead over opposition figurehead Anies, who at the time trumped Prabowo (28.1 percent to 26.1 percent) after previously trailing behind the defense minister.

Bali Governor Koster reportedly signaled his ambition for a reelection in 2024.

But Koster and Ganjar will have their five-year tenure end sometime late this year and likely be replaced respectively by an acting governor ahead of the election, just like other governors who won the 2018 regional elections across the country.

Indonesia is host for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, scheduled for May 20 to June 11 this year in six provinces across Indonesia: Bali, Jakarta, South Sumatra, West Java, Central Java and East Java.

It has seen much resistance, mainly from Muslim groups rejecting the Israeli team from competing, with hundreds of people staging a rally in Central Jakarta earlier this month.

Israel is qualified for the competition, following last year’s U-19 EURO Cup in Slovakia.

Indonesia has been a strong proponent of Palestine for decades.

The Foreign Ministry earlier this month told reporters the soccer match would not, by any means, “change Indonesia’s stance on the Palestine conflict”, while Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD gave his reassurance the government had done the political and diplomatic preparatory work for the arrival of the Israeli team.

Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chairman Erick Thohir said Indonesia would guarantee the security of the Israeli soccer team as it was Indonesia’s responsibility as host of the event.

Other than Muslim mass organizations, a number of other groups publicly expressed their disapproval; for instance, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS); the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement (BDS) and the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C).

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