TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko `Jokowi` Widodo said the candidates for his running mate in 2019 Presidential Election has shortened from ten to five people. However, he reluctant to mention the names.
“From ten candidates to five,” said Jokowi today, July 11, at State Palace, Jakarta.
Jokowi remained noncommittal when reporters questioned the names of his prospective vice presidential candidate. He provided the clue that the figures whom he selected were from various backgrounds.
“[The candidate] perhaps is a party or non-party member, professional, civil people, or could be from military or police. Everything is possible,” he said.
Read: Jokowi Predicted to Choose Non-Partisan Religious Running Mate
Jokowi refuted the saying that he awaited the opposition Gerindra Party to announce its chair Prabowo Subianto’s running mate first.
Jokowi, along with his team, is currently selecting the figures hence he could not reveal the names. “We’ll announce it at the right time,” he added.
Aside from that, Jokowi said he would discuss the names with the parties that had declared to support him.
General Election Commission (KPU) will open the registration of presidential candidate on August 4-10, 2018. Jokowi has not yet announced his vice presidential candidate thus far.
Earlier, Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) Denny JA released five candidate names that most favorable by the public to accompany Jokowi based on surveys. They were Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto, Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, Finance Ministry Sri Mulyani, and the adviser of Pancasila Ideology Education Agency (BPIP) Mahfud MD.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI
