JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The process of determining the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2019 election tends to be non-transparent and elitist. This is a challenge for Indonesia’s democracy.
Political elites intensified their communication until the day before candidate registration would close for the presidential election to select the nation’s leaders for the 2019-2024 term. However, it remains unclear who will be nominated as the potential leaders of this republic.
A number of names have been mentioned as potential running mates for Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto. However, they have been accompanied by a statement or motion of rejection from political elites or community leaders.
Gun Gun Heryanto, a lecturer of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, said on Wednesday (08/08/2018) that the condition was a result of the existing and “extreme” multiparty system, which caused a deadlock among parties and political camps until a final decision had to be made.
"In the end, this condition makes candidates appear from nowhere and without a clear process. Political parties suddenly have a candidate, and the public can only judge the candidate after they are announced," Gun Gun said.
Gun Gun added that in a healthy democracy, the public should be able to judge a candidate long before they were nominated. "This is a challenge in our democracy," he said.
A researcher at the University of Indonesia’s political science department, Panji Anugrah, echoed his view. Panji said the model of nominating the presidential and vice presidential candidates was elitist. Determining the presidential and vice presidential nominees was restricted to the elite who took into account party interests, but disregarded factors that were important to the people, such as the nominees’ track records, integrity and national commitment.
Tough decisions
Several parties and elites still showed differences in opinion on Wednesday evening, especially regarding the vice presidential nominee. President Jokowi, who has been nominated by nine political parties for reelection in 2019, said on Wednesday that there were no plans to meet with coalition parties’ general chairmen and secretaries-general to discuss his vice president. However, such a meeting could materialize suddenly.
When asked who his potential running mates were, Jokowi answered that his initial was M. Although he responded in a light-hearted manner, Jokowi confirmed the names reporters mentioned, from National Awakening Party chairman Muhaimin Iskandar to former Constitutional Court chair Mahfud MD, and to Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla. The President laughed and agreed that there was even one
named "Mas Airlangga”, adding the title “mister” to the name of Golkar Party general chairman, Airlangga Hartarto.
The central executive board chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Hendrawan Supratikno, said the choice of Jokowi’s vice president had moved towards Mahfud MD and the Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko. This is in accordance with theories that Prabowo\'s counterpart as an opponent of Jokowi in the 2019 Presidential Election.
Indonesian Democratic Party secretary-general Arsul Sani said that Mahfud MD had a great chance to run alongside Jokowi in 2019. However, the vice presidential nominee could still change at the last minute upon internal resistance and new dynamics in the pro-government coalition.
Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) chairman Robikin Emhas said that if Jokowi\'s running mate was not an NU member, it was feared that the Nahdliyin (NU community) would feel that they did not have a moral responsibility to support him.
In response, PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said that the party was attentive to the NU’s aspirations.
By Wednesday night, Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Zulkifli Hasan and PAN honorary council chairman Amien Rais had made repeated visits to Prabowo\'s Jakarta residence. Prabowo also visited the Prosperous Justice Party’s (PKS) Syuro Council chairman, Salim Segaf Al-Jufrie, at home.
Gerindra Party secretary-general Ahmad Muzani said the party would remain aligned with the PKS in the 2019 general elections. Muzani said that concluding from Prabowo\'s tête-à-tête with Salim, the PKS would be relieved if it was not given the vice presidential slot.
Gerindra, he said, had prepared a conciliatory offer for the PKS in the form of allocation in the Cabinet seats if Prabowo did not choose the PKS’s vice presidential candidate nominee.
However, PKS deputy secretary-general Abdul Hakim reiterated that his party was still deliberating with the PKS’s Syuro Council, which had decided on Salim Segaf Al-Jufrie as Prabowo\'s running mate. (INA/SAN/GAL/REK/AGE/APA/NWO)
