Ganjar Pranowo Is Indonesia Ruling Party’s Presidential Pick

Faris Mokhtar and Chandra Asmara
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia’s ruling party has chosen Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, seen as a natural successor of incumbent leader Joko Widodo, as its presidential nominee in a move that will trigger election campaigning in the world’s third-largest democracy.

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The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, made the surprise announcement on Friday after months of resisting pressure to name its nominee. Within the party, Ganjar was up against Speaker of Parliament Puan Maharani, who is also the daughter of PDI-P’s chairwoman and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

“As the party leader, I order the party to immediately mobilize and work hard to reach out to voters on the ground to win the elections in 2024,” said Soekarnoputri at a briefing held at the Batu Tulis Palace, which has a historical affinity with her father and Indonesia’s first president Sukarno.

Ganjar will be contesting for the country’s highest office against two other hopefuls — Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

“This is not an easy task,” Ganjar said at Friday’s briefing. “We ask for support, this is the momentum to consolidate strength to unite.”

Ganjar’s selection ends months of speculation on the ruling party’s choice, even as Subianto and Baswedan entered the presidential race. While the vote for a new president will only take place in February 2024, political parties have started picking the candidate who will give them the best shot at taking power.

In choosing Ganjar, the PDI-P went with someone who has for long been seen as a successor to President Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, and capable of continuing his mentor’s economic plans. Those include Jokowi’s nationalistic natural resources downstreaming policy, as well as major infrastructure aspirations that cover the construction of an ambitious $34 billion new capital city project in East Kalimantan.

“We have to ensure the continuity of what we have built. Agree?” Jokowi previously said in a rally last November. “This is what we have to protect together, not just for 2024, not just for 2029, but also for a Golden Indonesia in 2045 and onwards.”

Speaking at Friday’s briefing, Jokowi said Pranowo is a leader who is close to voters. “The change of leaders must not divert the nation’s struggle, which must be continued from time to time,” he said.

For months, Ganjar has been leading opinion polls as the favorite among presidential hopefuls. However, support for him took a hit, according to a recent poll by Lembaga Survei Indonesia, following his comments against Israel’s participation in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup that eventually led to the country being dropped as the tournament’s host.

His approval ratings dropped to 26.9%, coming in second behind Subianto who’s currently the most popular with 30.3% of support. Baswedan remains in third place.

PDI-P’s options are limited given there are very few that have such a high electoral support as Ganjar, said Arya Fernandes, a political analyst at Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Ganjar’s selection will change the political roadmap, Fernandes said, adding that had the announcement been delayed there was the risk of voters looking beyond PDI-P.

(Updates with party leaders comments throughout story.)

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