A recent Constitutional Court ruling solidified the law that presidents and vice presidents can’t serve more than two terms, effectively putting an end to Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s hopes of running with President Joko Widodo again next year (Kalla also served as VP under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY, from 2004-2009).
But the political career of the 76-year-old VP, popularly known as JK, may not be over when his current term ends next year. In fact, there’s now talk that he could challenge Jokowi in next year’s presidential election with the son of his former boss.
Representatives of the Democratic Party, which is led by SBY, have indicated that they are considering nominating JK for president in accordance with the results of a recent internal survey. Furthermore, the general consensus among their camp is that JK should be paired with SBY’s son, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, or AHY (who lost in last year’s Jakarta gubernatorial election), as his VP.
Though nothing has been made official yet, the Democrats are hinting that the prospect has SBY’s approval.
“Bapak [SBY] just smiled [at the prospect], because he knows the party’s cadres were so enthusiastic about this survey,” said Democratic Party Head of Public Communications Imelda Sari, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
Imelda added that SBY is someone who likes to listen to the aspirations of those even in the lower rungs of his party.
But the Democrats, who hold 10.9% of the seats in Parliament, do not have the 20% required to meet the threshold for officially nominating a presidential candidate. To do so, they would likely have to form a third coalition of parties (Jokowi already has one while Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto is expected to secure his coalition soon) to be able to nominate JK and AHY.
“[From the survey], almost 90% of the party’s core leaders prefer three coalitions. If indeed there are three coalitions, then the nominees from the third coalition, the alternative coalition, would be JK and AHY,” Imelda said.
The JK-AHY rumors picked up steam following JK’s meeting with SBY and AHY on June 25, even though they denied any political discussion took place.
It’s certainly not impossible for JK to be nominated as president through this scenario. The VP has proven to be a versatile politician with a knack for transcending political boundaries, best illustrated by when he became Jokowi’s running mate in 2014 despite JK’s party, Golkar, being Jokowi’s opponent at the time.
Neither JK nor AHY have confirmed the rumors about their potential pairing.
The United Development Party (PPP), which forms part of Jokowi’s coalition, says a JK-AHY nomination would be unlikely as there has not yet been any signs that any party is willing to join a third coalition with the Democratic Party. PPP also says that Jokowi’s bid for reelection next year is progressing well, with the president expected to name a running mate before July 15.
