JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A Gerindra Party coordination meeting in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java was used by party chairman Prabowo Subianto to express his readiness to run in the 2019 presidential election. Prabowo made the statement after listening to and accepting the mandate from all Gerindra executives on the regional and central board who wanted him to run in the 2019 election.
“In his speech, Pak Prabowo said he accepted the mandate and would start building a coalition. Prabowo also ordered all cadres to work with the people,” said Gerindra secretary-general Ahmad Muzani.
Prabowo’s statement indicates the 2014 presidential election between himself and Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will potentially be repeated in 2019.
Currently, there are five parties in the House of Representatives that have nominated Jokowi for the 2019 election. They are the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the NasDem Party and the Hanura Party.
The PPP’s deputy secretary-general Achmad Baidowi welcomed Prabowo’s readiness to run in the 2019 election. It makes certain there will be no single candidate in the 2019 election.
Presidential chief of staff Moeldoko believes the contest in the 2019 election will proceed peacefully. “Competition [in the election] is good, there will be a partner in democracy. There will be a sparring partner in the competition. That is good,” he said.
Last year
The request for Prabowo to run in the 2019 election surfaced at the party’s coordination meeting in April last year. But Prabowo did not give an answer until now, raising speculation about whether he would run in 2019.
Prabowo’s readiness to run was declared at the opening of the coordination meeting on Wednesday morning. Nevertheless, he had two requests. First, solid support from Gerindra. Second, support from other parties.
Prabowo also underlined the importance of building a coalition among the political parties that support his nomination. So far, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has stated its readiness to join a coalition with Gerindra.
Law No. 7/2017 on general elections stipulates a candidate pair for president and vice president must be nominated by a party or coalition of parties with a minimum 20 percent of seats in the House or 25 percent of the popular vote during the previous legislative election.
Gerindra, with 73 seats at the House, needs an additional 39 seats from other parties to meet the required minimum of 112 seats. On paper, Gerindra needs only to build a coalition with the PKS, which has 40 seats. Yet, Gerindra is trying to approach other parties.
Building coalitions
Based on Kompas’ observation, the coordination meeting yesterday was attended by PKS president Sohibul Iman and secretary-general Mustafa Kamal, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Zulfikli Hasan, PAN patron Amien Rais and secretary-general Eddy Soeparno. Also present was Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who was nominated by Gerindra in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
In his speech, Prabowo referred to those in attendance as close friends of Gerindra. On the sidelines of the coordination meeting, Prabowo asked the elites to ride horses with him and his brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo.
Gerindra deputy chairman Ferry Juliantono said the inivitation would strengthen the political coalition. The gesture of the three party chairmen riding horses together, he said, would underline their close relations ahead of the task to build a strong coalition. Yet, a coalition has not been finalized. “We are open to other political parties joining us, such as the PKB,” Ferry said.
Zulkifli said as of now the PAN is undecided about joining a coalition and is open for communication with other party leaders. The PAN will make a decision at a national working meeting scheduled for the end of May or early June.
Meanwhile, several PKS elites have stated they will form a coalition with Gerindra in 2019. The PKS is proposing nine people as a running mate in the 2019 election. The PKS will allow Gerindra to decide on the presidential candidate. The running mate will be discussed later.
(AGE/APA/INA)
