Indonesia’s senior minister Mahfud MD picked as VP running mate for ruling party’s presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD will be a vice-presidential running mate for former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo in contesting the presidential election on Valentine’s Day next year. 

Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), made the announcement during a media event held at the party’s headquarters on Wednesday (Oct 18).

"He is a qualified intellectual," she said, referring to Mr Mahfud as he and Mr Pranowo entered the venue together.

"He is an honest and brave person who always fights for the rights of the people. The pairing of Mr Ganjar and Mr Mahfud will enrich this country's democracy."

Commenting on his pairing with Mr Pranowo, Mr Mahfud said: “I know exactly that Mr Ganjar is a popular and brave leader. He dares to correct wrongdoings, dares to accept criticism, and dares to fight for political values that he believes in.”

Meanwhile, Mr Pranowo asked for the support of the Indonesian people. 

"We are confident that with this shared spirit, we will soon achieve a much better future and life for the entire Indonesian nation," he said.

The announcement, which analysts whom CNA spoke to say is a strategic move, comes a day before the election commission opens registration for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

So far, three people have announced their interest to run as president. 

Apart from Mr Pranowo, Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto has expressed his intention to run for the third time.

He is endorsed by his party Gerindra, the country’s third-biggest political party, as well as the country’s second-biggest political party Golkar and several others. 

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, backed by the country’s fourth biggest party Nasdem, and chairman of PKB Muhaimin Iskandar also declared their eagerness to run as president and vice-president. 

The pair said they will register at the election commission on Thursday, while Mr Subianto has yet to announce his running mate.

SEASONED POLITICIAN

East Java-born Mr Mahfud, 66, is a seasoned politician, Islamic scholar and former judge. He also has ties to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s and the world’s biggest Islamic organisation.

Mr Mahfud, whose real name is Mohammad Mahfud Mahmodin but has been known as Mahfud MD for decades, studied law and started his career as a lecturer. 

He became prominent in politics when he joined the Islam-based National Awakening Party (PKB) in 1998.

During the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, founder of PKB, Mr Mahfud was appointed minister of defence in 2000 and subsequently minister of justice and human rights in 2001. 

However, Mr Mahfud left PKB when he became the chief justice of the constitutional court in 2008.

When his tenure ended in 2013, his former party PKB wanted to endorse him to become president in the 2014 election. 

But Mr Mahfud ultimately backed Gerindra’s head Prabowo Subianto.

The latter ran against PDI-P member Joko Widodo, who then won the election.

When President Widodo was seeking re-election in 2019, it was believed that he wanted to choose Mr Mahfud. 

But Mr Widodo, at the last minute, picked chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and NU member Ma’ruf Amin.

After winning the election, Mr Widodo appointed Mr Mahfud in October 2019 as his coordinating minister for politics, legal and security affairs. 

MAHFUD A STRATEGIC PICK 

Political analyst Ray Rangkuti from the Jakarta-based think tank Lingkar Madani told CNA that PDI-P’s decision to choose Mr Mahfud as Mr Pranowo’s running mate in next year’s election is a “strategic” move owing to the former’s origin.

The senior minister hails from East Java – a province with about 41 million people. It is Indonesia’s second most populous province after West Java.

Mr Rangkuti believes that the pairing of Mr Mahfud with Mr Pranowo may boost their chances of winning in East Java. This is especially helpful as Mr Subianto is expected to retain his popularity in West Java, which he won in the previous election against Mr Widodo in 2019.

Mr Mahfud also has close relations to NU, which boasts some 95 million followers across the archipelago.

The pairing of Mr Pranowo and Mr Mahfud is also “strong” against that of Mr Baswedan and Mr Iskandar. The latter happens to hail from East Java as well.

“This pairing (of Mr Pranowo and Mr Mahfud) will be quite a strong opponent for Anis Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar in East Java,” said Mr Rangkuti.

“They’re a strong contender.”

Mr Aditya Perdana, a political lecturer from the University of Indonesia, said that Mr Mahfud is the “right choice” to support Mr Pranowo’s presidential bid.

“I think Mr Mahfud is the right choice because he meets the prerequisites wanted by the political elites, such as representing Muslim groups, at least NU. 

“Besides, of course, because of his character Mr Mahfud is a popular figure among critical people such as the opposition,” Mr Perdana told CNA.

He, however, pointed out that recent polls have shown that Mr Mahfud’s electability is just about five per cent, and this may not augur well for Mr Pranowo’s presidential bid.

Separately, political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Arya Fernandes believes that Mr Mahfud was chosen as Mr Pranowo’s vice-presidential candidate due to the latter’s lack of leadership experience at a national level. Mr Pranowo’s is the former governor of Central Java.

“During campaigning PDI-P could campaign to fight corruption and to uphold the law, which Mr Mahfud has extensive experience in.

“I don’t know whether Mr Mahfud will increase Mr Pranowo’s electability, but he certainly compliments him,” he said.

The last day of the presidential and vice-presidential registration is Oct 25. Mr Widodo is barred from running for a third term by the country’s Constitution.

Read this story in Bahasa Indonesia here.