Indonesia presidential race: Golkar might throw its weight behind Prabowo Subianto

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s oldest-running political party Golkar on Wednesday (May 10) hinted at the possibility of supporting Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto at next year’s presidential election in exchange for naming its chairman - Mr Airlangga Hartarto - as Mr Subianto’s running mate.

Golkar is leading the so-called United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) along with three other parties, but the future of this coalition came into question when one of its members, the United Development Party (PPP), announced on Apr 29 that it was supporting Mr Ganjar Pranowo at next year’s presidential election. 

Mr Pranowo, who is the Central Java Governor, had been picked as the presidential nominee of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) last month.

To nominate a presidential candidate, a party must obtain at least 20 per cent of the total seats in parliament or obtain 25 per cent of votes in the previous legislative election.

PDI-P is the only party that meets this criterion as it has 22.26 per cent of the seats in parliament. Other parties must form a coalition if they want to nominate a presidential candidate.

Mr Nusron Wahid, the Golkar campaign manager, said that his party is in talks with the remaining members of the KIB coalition about potentially supporting Mr Pranowo’s biggest rival, Mr Subianto.

"One of the proposals is (to support) Prabowo as (candidate for) president and the (candidate for) vice-president is from the KIB, namely Airlangga Hartarto,” Mr Nusron told a press conference on Wednesday. 

Mr Hartarto is the current Golkar chairman and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

Golkar is currently the country’s second biggest party in parliament with slightly more seats than Mr Subianto’s Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) which came in third. 

However, according to recent polls, Mr Hartarto is trailing behind Mr Subianto in terms of popularity among voters. 

Mr Nusron said the Golkar-led KIB coalition has not officially given its support towards Mr Subianto’s candidacy but added that “there is a strong signal towards it.”

Golkar’s proposal to nominate Mr Hartarto as Mr Subianto’s running mate does not bode well for KIB member, the National Awakening Party (PKB), which wants its own chairman, Mr Muhaimin Iskandar, as a vice-presidential candidate.

“PKB will be supporting Prabowo as presidential candidate,” PKB campaign manager Faisol Reza told reporters after meeting with Golkar representatives on Wednesday.

Mr Faisol said his party was hoping that Mr Subianto would choose its chairman as his running mate.

“We would be happy if Airlangga becomes (Subianto’s) campaign director,” he said, adding that the PKB is willing to support Mr Subianto with or without the rest of the coalition.

The PKB is the fifth biggest party in Indonesia with just 58 seats in parliament compared with Golkar’s 85 seats. However, Mr Muhaimin - the PKB chairman - has been doing better in the polls compared to Golkar’s Hartarto.

Mr Nusron of Golkar said his party will continue to stage talks with its coalition partners - PKB and the National Mandate Party (PAN) - on who to nominate as Mr Subianto’s running mate.

“(Coalition members) are not fighting. We are having a discussion. In the end, it is up to Prabowo who he is willing to accept,” he said.

But Golkar might not be as committed as the PKB in its support towards Mr Subianto with Mr Nusron saying that Golkar “will discuss it internally first” should the Gerindra party chairman choose a different name as his running mate. 

The PAN has not announced who it is supporting for next year’s presidential election, although several members want the party to throw its weight behind former Jakarta governor, Mr Anies Baswedan. 

Mr Baswedan’s candidacy is currently backed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Democratic Party (Nasdem).

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on May 4 said that Nasdem is no longer a part of the pro-government coalition. 

According to last week’s poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute, 26.5 per cent of those surveyed said they will vote for Mr Subianto at next year’s election while Mr Pranowo and Mr Baswedan received the approval of 24.9 per cent and 19.8 per cent of voters respectively.

The presidential election will be held on Feb 14, 2024.