dewapoker poker online: 2019 Election: Will Jokowi Pick Mahfud MD as VP Candidate?

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Mahfud MD is among the three figures reportedly being considered by Jokowi to partner with him as vice president candidate for the April 2019 election

In-depth

Jakarta, GIVnews.com – No political party officials showed up at the General Election Commission (KPU) on Saturday (4/8) to formally register the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates for the April 2019 election. While the official registration period is open from 4 to 10 August, many in the public is expecting political parties or coalitions of parties to submit names of their candidates only on the last few days, if not hours.

Quoting a top official from President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s coalition of parties, Kompas.com reported on Saturday (4/9) that the pro-government alliance will announce the name of the would-be partner of President Jokowi on 9 August. The president is seeking a reelection next year. And then, Jokowi and the vice-presidential candidate is expected to register with the KPU on 10 August.

On registration at the KPU, the election body last Friday held a gathering with secretary generals of political organizations and briefed them about the procedure of submitting their presidential and vice-presidential nominees. In the meeting, the KPU reminded that party chairman/chairwoman and its secretary general come to the election body office in person to register their presidential and vice presidential nominees. KPU officials also told meeting participants about other matters like the required health tests on candidates that would be arranged by KPU, the location for candidates’ incoming supporters during the times of registration, and the planed news conferences to be held at the KPU immediately after each party’s registration.

Meanwhile, despite all the KPU’s preparations and amid the nation-wide hullaballoo over the upcoming election, the number of presidential and vice presidential pairs to be submitted to the KPU remains a guess. On 9 April 2019, voters will go to the polls to simultaneously elect president/vice president and members of representative bodies namely DPR, DPRD and DPD.

Of late, speculation is rife that beside President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and his old rival Prabowo Subianto, the names of other presidential and vice presidential candidates may also emerge and be submitted to the KPU within the coming days. This may happen if political parties from the Jokowi and Prabowo camps fail to pick one name as their respective running mate. Prabowo narrowly lost to Jokowi in the 2014 presidential election.

As for Jokowi, almost nobody is doubtful about his chances in the registration process. He had been the choice of a coalition of six parties that is led by the ‘ruling’ Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). On Jokowi’s partner, the soft-spoken President had only said that three names are already in his pockets and that he had yet to pick one of them before registering him or her with the KPU, which many people suspect that it would be done at the last minute of the registration deadline. Reportedly, Jokowi’s supporting parties had publicly declared that they had given him full freedom to pick his running mate even from outside those organizations.

A report by the Jakarta Post last month said that Jokowi had confirmed three names he was selecting to partner with him in the upcoming election. They are former Constitutional Court (MK) chief justice Mahfud MD, Industry Minister cum Golkar Chairman Airlangga Hartarto and West Nusa Tenggara Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi. But, he did not clearly say whether there are other names in his pockets.

Meanwhile, for Prabowo Subianto, much more serious question remains. Some people remain fully unsure whether the general chairman and founder of the Gerindra Party will be among the names to be submitted to the KPU within the coming week. Such doubt is partly due to reports that Prabowo’s could not pick a running mate from Gerindra’s alliance, which could incite them to leave the coalition.

The current election law stipulates that to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidates, a party or coalition of parties must have a minimum of 20-25 percent of votes. Currently, not a single party fulfills the threshold requirement based on the result of the 2014 legislative election, thus forcing political organizations to form an alliance in order for them to submit a presidential and presidential nominee to the KPU.

With Jokowi, beside PDI-P, the other parties formally backing him are Golkar, Nasdem, PKB, PPP, and Hanura. As for Prabowo, standing behind him are his Gerindra Party, PKS, PAN, and Demokrat, many of which are relgious-oriented. Although they had not yet formally declare Prabowo as their presidential candidate, their officials had repetitively claimed that their “support for Prabowo is firm.” And, like in the case of Jokowi, those parties had not yet mentioned any name that would partner with the 66 years old Prabowo.

As widely reported, Gerindra and the other three parties are still negotiating the matter amid suspicions that PKS and others in the coalition are pushing hard for their own ‘cadre’ to be picked for the vice presidential slot. For instance, Partai Demokrat, whose patron is former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), strongly aspired that SBY’s eldest son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono get the vice presidential slot through the Gerindra-led coalition. This is despite some people’s suspicion that the former army lieutenant general Prabowo would refuse to partner with Agus Harimurti, a 39 years old ex-army major. This is despite the latter’s post-graduate education at overseas universities.

Beside Agus Harimurti, Prabowo is now considering several other names to be his running mate. They reportedly include senior PKS official Salim Assegaf; popular Islamic preacher Abdul Somad; Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, and former Armed Forces (TNI) Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo.

Mahfud MD

Mahfud MD deserves more serious attention when compared with the other potential partners of Jokowi. As President Jokowi is deeply obsessed with developing Indonesia into a nation free from radicalism, racism and intolerance, having law professor Mahfud as his running mate could be a right move.

Mahfud MD (Photo source: Chillinaris.blogspot.com)

Prominent figures like Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengku Buwono Xl recognized Mahfud’s quality for maintaining Indonesia as a harmonious nation as aspired by its founding fathers. In addition, Mahfud, who hails from Madura Island in East Java, is widely known as a clean figure and having a modest lifestyle like President Jokowi. This is despite all the prominent state and government posts that Mahfud had served.

Last Friday, the democracy-minded sultan of Yogyakarta told a large gathering in that city that Mahfud is a tolerant, spontaneous and straight forward person. “He is a border crosser and has negotiating skills,” the monarch, who is also governor of Yogyakarta, said in his speech as reported by Kompas daily.

Meanwhile, Mahfud, giving a keynote speech at the same discussion forum on ‘Jogja-Gumregah untuk Indonesia’ (Yogyakarta Revival), called on the nation to get its political life back to its traditional ‘marine culture.’ Marine culture, he said, prescribes very egalitarian, sportive and acceptive characters for people to live in a diverse society. Mahfud added, “Today’s democracy is a democracy just for winning, is full of manipulations and ambitions for hegemony.”

Mahfud served a five-year term as chief justice of MK before serving as minister of defense and minister of justice and human rights under the presidency of the reformist and pluralist Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur. He also served as member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from Gus Dur’s PKB Party. Mahfud openly claimed as a ‘student’ of Gus Dur in his social and political life.