Tough Battles in Java
Political parties are putting forward their best figures as their governor and deputy governor candidates in W. Java, C. Java and E. Java.
Indonesia’s sixth president and Democratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, along with the party’s high council, announced its 17 gubernatorial candidate pairs on Sunday (7/1) at the Democratic Party’s Jakarta office.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – A tight fight is expected to happen in the West Java, Central Java and East Java elections. Political parties have put forward their best figures to compete in the three elections. It is believed that a victory in each of the three provinces will pave the way for victory in the 2019 general election.
Java is a subject of serious attention from political parties because the three provinces on the Island contribute to 48 percent of the vote for the 2019 general election. The number of voters in West Java, Central Java and East Java amounts to 90.44 million voters from a total of 186.59 million national voters.
In West Java, PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, in Jakarta, Sunday (7/1), announced that PDI-P West Java regional executive board (DPD) chairman Tubagus Hasanuddin, who is also a House of Representatives member representing the party and former president military secretary when Megawati was president, has been nominated as governor candidate, with former West Java police chief Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan as the deputy governor candidate.
With the candidacy of the pair confirmed, the West Java regional election will be participated by four candidate pairs. The other three candidates are May. Gen. Sudrajat and Ahmad Syaihku, nominated by the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Deddy Mizwar and Dedy Mulyadi, who are candidates from the Democratic Party and the Golkar Party, and Ridwan Kamil and Uu Ruzhanul Ulum who are supported by the NasDem Party, the United Development Party, the National Awakening Party and the Hanura Party.
Of the 10 existing parties, PAN is the only one that has yet to have pledged support for any of the candidate pairs.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (left) shouts the party’s “Merdeka” (Independence) cheer after giving a speech on Sunday (7/1), afterward handing out recommendation letters to the party’s gubernatorial candidates at the PDI-P office in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta. The PDI-P officially announced its gubernatorial candidates who will be contesting the 2018 regional election in the six provinces of North Sumatera, South Sumatera, West Java, Central Java, West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.
For the Central Java regional election, Megawati declared that the party would re-nominate Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo. He is paired with Taj Yasin, son of KH Maimun Zubair, a religious leader in Central Java, who is also the United Development Party (PPP) syariah council chairman. Therefore, the PDI-P is in a coalition with the PPP. However, other than the PPP, Hasto said the PDI-P was also in a coalition with NasDem and the Democratic Party.
Megawati, in her speech, said the combination of the two figures would reinforce the friendship between those in the nationalist and Islamic circles.
In Central Java, this pair will come up against a pair that will be nominated by Gerindra, the PKS and PAN. However, the three-party coalition has only unveiled its governor candidate, while the deputy governor candidate has yet to be decided.
“We actually want Gus Yasin to be Sudirman’s partner. However, because the PDI-P had [nominated him] first, we are looking for another one. There are at least two names that are potential [candidates], namely Gus Yusuf [PKB Central Java executive board Yusuf Chudlory] and Rustriningsih [former Central Java deputy governor]. It is still being looked into right now,” said Gerindra deputy secretary-general Andre Rosiade.
Anas’ replacement
As for East Java, following the pulling out of Abdullah Azwar Anas from the position of deputy governor candidate as previously nominated by the PDI-P, the party has yet to make any decisions. PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said the PDI-P still had time until the candidate registration deadline closes in January.
Syaifullah Yusuf, who was initially paired with Anas, is waiting for a decision from the party.
“We will consider whether Anas’ decision to pull out needs to be followed up in the form of finding a replacement or to stick with its previous decision [to nominate Anas as deputy governor],” he said.
The decision to stick with Anas could be made because he has shown a good performance while leading Banyuwangi. Moreover, support toward Anas is big, despite negative issues that have arose.
However, even if the PDI-P later decide to replace Anas, Hasto said the party had plenty of members that could be a potential replacement. “There are the names of Pak Kanang [Ngawi regent Budi Sulistyono], Said Abdullah [House member from the electoral region of Madura], and a few House members from the PDI-P also have potential,” he said.
Meanwhile, Syaifullah Yusuf, who was initially paired with Anas, is waiting for a decision from the party. He hopes that Anas’ replacement will be a figure that matches or exceeds Anas’ popularity and electability.
Another candidate pair in East Java is Khofifah Indar Parawansa-Emil Dardak, who were nominated by Golkar, the PPP, the Democratic Party, NasDem and Hanura. Khofifah said the preparation of registration documents was almost done.
Other than these two candidate pairs, it is likely there will be another candidate nominated by Gerindra, PAN and the PKS. “For East Jatim, we along with PAN and the PKS are still deliberating about the right figure,” said Andre Rosiade.
Senior party members Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) president Sohibul Iman (fifth left), Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (fourth right), PKS secretary-general Mustafa Kamal (third right), politician Rachmawati Soekarnoputri (third left) and former Indonesian Military commander Djoko Santoso (fourth left) are pictured at the Jakarta office on Wednesday (27/12/2017), following their announcement of the party’s gubernatorial candidates for the 2018 regional election. The PKS, which has formed a coalition with Gerindra and the National Mandate Party (PAN), has nominated Sudrajat-Ahmad Syaikhu for the West Java gubernatorial election, former Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said for Central Java, Lt. Gen. Edy Rahmayadi and Musa Rajeckshah for North Sumatera, Isran Noor and Hadi Mulyadi for East Kalimantan and Muhamad Kasuba and Majid Husen for the North Maluku election.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has carried out a dynamic party coalition combination in the three vote-shed provinces. “There is a myth that says this party cannot form a coalition with other parties. Not the Democratic [Party]. We have a doctrine, policies. The Democratic [Party] is ready to form a coalition with any political party,” said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Democratic Party chairman.
Extra attention
Andre added that Gerindra was careful about choosing candidates for the East Java, Central Java and West Java elections because the three provinces represented almost 50 percent of voters. Gerindra wants the chosen candidates to be the right ones and able to win the regional election because if the victory can be achieved, the party believes that it can pave the way for victory in the 2019 general election. “Victory in the three provinces will help Prabowo win in 2019 as the presidential candidate from Gerindra,” Andre said.
Golkar Party West Java campaign team head MQ Iswara also predicted that the regional election would be tight, as all candidates from political parties and coalitions had strengths.
Meanwhile, to ensure victory for its candidates, PKS West Java campaign team deputy head Haru Sandharu said that all PKS members that occupied the position of regional head and Regional Legislative Council leaders in West Java had been asked to make a move. “All legislative candidates from the PKS have also been asked to endorse Sudrajat-Syaikhu in their respective electoral regions,” Haru said.
(APA/GAL/ONG/DIT/BRO/TAM/SEM/BKY/DMU/RWN/GER/WSI/NSA/DD17)
