After months of speculation, President Joko Widodo has finally picked a running mate for next year’s election, but it appears we’ll have to keep speculating as to who it is.
Yesterday, Jokowi hosted a dinner with the leaders of the six parties in his coalition at the Bogor State Palace, discussing his VP pick. According to the attendees, Jokowi and the coalition has agreed on one name to run as the president’s second-in-command.
“The coalition has come full circle, [the name of the VP candidate] is in the president’s hands. It was narrowed down to one name,” Hanura Party Chairman Oesman Sapta Odang told reporters after the dinner, as quoted by Kompas.
Oesman added that Jokowi might reveal his pick to the public within the next two weeks, but Golkar Party Chairman Airlangga Hatarto says the president might play things close to his chest for a while longer.
“The announcement we’re leaving to the president. Certainly it won’t be anytime soon,” he said.
“Because this is to do with political strategy.”
The timing of Jokowi’s VP announcement could have great repercussions on the Indonesian political landscape, particularly on what political parties will coalesce to form an opposition against the government and the candidates they put forward to challenge Jokowi.
The deadline to officially register presidential and VP candidates to the General Elections Commission (KPU) is August 10.
As things stand, losing presidential candidate in 2014 Prabowo Subianto is likely to be Jokowi’s sole rival in next year’s election, but his Gerindra Party has yet to consolidate the opposition of parties needed to have enough seats in parliament to nominate a presidential candidate (20%).
As for the matter of Jokowi’s VP, the president’s coalition last week released a shortlist of 10 possible candidates, ranging from Indonesian Ulema Council Chairman Ma’ruf Amin to Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
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