Indonesia’s ruling party picks top security minister to run for VP in next year’s election

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s ruling party on Wednesday named the nation’s top security minister as the running mate to the party’s presidential candidate in next year’s election in Southeast Asia’s largest democracy.

Muhammad Mahfud will be seeking the vice presidency alongside the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle presidential hopeful Ganjar Pranowo, former Central Java governor.

The announcement by PDIP chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri was attended by three leaders of PDIP’s partner parties for the February election and sets up a potential three-way race, with Pranowo expected to face former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto.

Baswedan choose his running mate as Muhaimin Iskandar, the chairman of National Awakening Party, which has strong ties to the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which boasts over 45 million members.

PDIP’s pick is considered by many as a move aimed at boosting Pranowo’s popularity in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Mahfud, former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, is closely affiliated with NU and was long involved in related organizations, including the NU’s youth wing GP Ansor.

Sukarnoputri praised Mahfud as an honest, courageous person whose commitment and idealism are unquestionable.

“He is the figure we have mandated to reform the national legal system, because the people have been waiting for this justice for a long time,” Sukarnoputri said. “We call for Indonesian people’s blessing, hopefully people will help them to become the next leaders of this nation.”

Pranowo and Mahfud plan to formally register to run in the election at the General Election Commission, which opens registration on Thursday and has its final deadline next Wednesday.

Mahfud, who is known as a frank and outspoken figure, praised Pranowo in his inauguration remarks as the right figure to lead Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, home to more than 270 million people.

“Together with Ganjar, I will dedicate my self, all my abilities, knowledge, experiences, to the nation and state of Indonesia,” Mahfud said.

It is still not yet clear when Subianto will announce his running mate, which is speculated to be President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

The Constitutional Court on Monday ruled against lowering the minimum age of presidential and vice presidential candidates to 35 instead of 40, but allowed an exception for those who served or been elected as regional leaders allowing them to run at younger age.

The ruling could pave the way for the 36-year-old Gibran, the mayor of Surakarta, to run in the election.

Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, is set to vote in simultaneously legislative and presidential elections on Feb. 14, 2024. The country has had free and largely peaceful elections since the fall of dictator Suharto in 1998.