Puan Maharani-Anies Rasyid Baswedan
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. President Jokowi has kept the conversation about his ideal successor — whom he described as “white-haired” — alive in his public statements, by suggesting that such a criterion was not a reference to a certain political candidate.
The President ruffled some feathers last week when he attended a major political rally held by his volunteers, in which he encouraged thousands of people vote for a leader who worked so hard and cared about their people so much that their face wrinkled and their hair turned white.
During his working visit to Pontianak, the President made reference once again to a “white hair” successor, saying that one could interpret his suggestion in any way, throwing several names into the fray this time. “One can interpret it in any way; but indeed if one works hard, they think very hard for the people, their hair could turn white,” Jokowi told reporters.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has urged his supporters to vote for a “fully white-haired” leader, his most upfront show of support yet for a presidential hopeful. “Look at the leader’s hair too, if it’s fully white, that means they are thinking about the people,” Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, said to his almost 150,000 supporters gathered at a rally in Jakarta.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo is the only presidential hopeful with a full head of white hair among the most popular contenders for the 2024 elections. Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto round up the top three.
General chairs of political parties under the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) met, had dinner together, and decided the coalition will prioritize the nomination of the one of the political party chairs for the 2024 presidential candidates. United Development Party (PPP) Acting Chair Mardiono, PPP Deputy Chair Amir Uskara, National Mandate Party (PAN) Chair Zulkifli Hasan, and Golkar Party General Chair Airlangga Hartarto, were among the party chairmen who attended the meeting.
After a closed meeting with the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) political parties’ chairs on Wednesday, National Mandate Party (PAN) Chair Zulkifli Hasan said that the coalition formed by the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), and PAN prioritized Golkar Chair Airlangga Hartarto as a presidential candidate in the presidential election of 2024. This was because Airlangga had led Golkar reaching the second position in the 2019 elections. According to Zulkifli, the coalition prioritizes internal figures to run for president and vice president in the presidential election.
The future of the Gerindra Party-led alliance, which plans to announce a ticket for the 2024 presidential election by January next year, is hanging in the balance after the National Awakening Party (PKB) floated the idea of leaving the alliance if its chairman is not named a candidate for vice president.
Since declaring in August their alliance, called the Great Indonesia Awakening Coalition (KIR), Gerindra and the PKB have been trying to find their middle ground over the 2024 ticket. But fresh rumors were later swirling that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had been pushing for Gerindra chair Prabowo Subianto to run with rising star Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo on his side. Ganjar is Jokowi’s fellow member of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and whose popularity has outpaced PKB chair Muhaimin Iskandar.
Gerindra’s alliance with the PKB is likely intended to combine the former’s nationalist supporters and the latter’s Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) religious base, particularly after Prabowo suffered back-to-back defeats in East Java, a traditional NU stronghold.
Survey institute Indikator Politik Indonesia published the findings of a survey on the electability of potential 2024 presidential candidates on Thursday. The survey, which was carried out from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5, shows Central Java Governor Ganjar coming in first as a result with 33.9 percent of the vote. Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan has started to gain ground on Prabowo Subianto in terms of electability, with 32.2 and 23.9 percent, respectively.
According to the latest electability survey on potential candidates for 2024 elections released by the Indikator Politik survey institute, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir’s electability consistently increasing. Indikator Politik Executive Director Burhanudin Muhtadi said Erick Thohir was one of the candidates for the vice-presidential candidate who came from a professional background, as Erick did not have a political party background.
Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo is the only potential candidate for the 2024 presidential election who enjoys a two-digit surge in support since March of last year, according to a new poll released.
Over the last 20 months, his standing has gained 10.5 points to 16.6 percent when voters were asked to name their candidate independently, according to a survey by Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC).
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo remains a favorite figure among voters although his support has slipped by 1.3 points to 13.9 percent which puts him second. However, the incumbent won’t be able to join the race because of the Constitution’s presidential term limit.
