June 20, 2024
JAKARTA – The political parties behind the victory of president-elect Prabowo Subianto plan to join hands once again for the upcoming regional head elections in key regions in Java, which look increasingly like showdowns between candidates aligned with both the incoming and outgoing governments and those considered outsiders.
As the November regional elections draw near, major pro-Prabowo parties are now intensifying talks to come up with joint tickets.
Golkar Party deputy chair Ahmad Doli Kurnia told reporters over the weekend that party leaders in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) electoral alliance had discussed continuing their partnership in the coming local elections, noting that the coalition was eyeing sweeping victories in various regions.
“Golkar is part of the KIM coalition. In facing the regional elections, there have definitely been discussions between party leaders in our coalition [about which candidates to back],” Doli said on Sunday.
Prabowo’s presidential bid was backed by the nine-way KIM alliance that was led by his own Gerindra Party and was tacitly supported by outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Other major parties in the coalition are Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Democratic Party.
Several coalition members, such as PAN, previously claimed to have committed to extending their political partnership and becoming allies in November’s regional election, saying that they intended to make KIM a “permanent coalition”.
Among prospective candidates who have already secured a ticket with the alliance is former East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is seeking reelection alongside her former deputy governor Emil Dardak.
Khofifah is the leader of Muslimat, the women’s wing of the country’s largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a position she temporarily relinquished earlier this year when she campaigned for Prabowo and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Khofifah could face tough competition from rival Muslim cleric Marzuki Mustamar, a former head of NU’s East Java branch who is set to win the nomination from one of KIM’s rivals the National Awakening Party (PKB), a Muslim-based party that has historic connections with NU.
East Java, home to 31 million voters and a traditional electoral bellwether, is widely seen as the traditional base of NU. Observers believe that figures affiliated with the Muslim group are likely to have a better chance at winning the regional head election in the province.
In neighboring Central Java, a prospective candidate who may have the chance to secure a KIM nomination is the provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Ahmad Luthfi, known to be a close ally of outgoing President Jokowi.
PAN has openly rallied behind Luthfi’s candidacy, while other KIM members, such as Golkar and Gerindra, have included the police general on their lists of prospective candidates for the Central Java gubernatorial election.
Nominating Luthfi could again bring the pro-Prabowo alliance and its ally Jokowi head-to-head with the President’s former party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI-P) whose stronghold is Central Java.
Prospective candidates touted to be running on a ticket backed by the PDI-P include the party’s Semarang office chairman Hendrar Prihadi and Central Java chapter head Bambang Wuryanto.
But complications appeared to emerge in the discussions among pro-Prabowo parties over who should run in gubernatorial elections in Jakarta and West Java, which, like East Java and Central Java, are often seen as springboards to the presidency.
Gerindra, PAN and the Democrats have thrown their weight behind former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil’s possible gubernatorial bid in Jakarta, where he could potentially face off against unsuccessful presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, who is expected to run on the ticket of the PKB and PDI-P.
Ridwan’s candidacy, however, will depend on the decision of his party Golkar, which so far prefers him to run for reelection in West Java, where his popularity is higher compared with other provinces.
“In Golkar, we still believe that running in West Java will be ideal for Ridwan, compared with, for example, in Jakarta, where we are still unsure how the political landscape will shape up and who his opponents will be,” Doli said.
Analyst Ujang Komarudin said pro-Prabowo parties wanted to ensure victory in major provinces that could help them create vote banks and consolidate support for the incoming government and ensure their own political future.
“Regions eyed by these parties are home to large populations. Without the support of regional leaders in these provinces, Prabowo will have difficulty in implementing his policy programs once he is in office,” Ujang said.