TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Election Winning Board, Puan Maharani, said in the near future, the party will announce a vice presidential candidate for Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.
"We're going to announce the candidate after Easter," Puan said in Denpasar, Bali, yesterday.
Puan released the statement after accompanying the party chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, attending her relative's wedding reception in Denpasar. No exact time for the announcement mentioned.
As previously reported, Megawati has been in Bali since Wednesday evening.
A PDI-P politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Megawati and Jokowi met at Villa Cucukan Bali, where Mega has been staying. "Their meeting was to assess vice presidential candidates," he said.
"It is also to narrow down five vice presidential candidates into just three names," he added.
In the meantime, other PDI-P politicians, Djarot Saiful Hidajat and Pramono Agung, have confirmed that Megawati had a meeting with Jokowi, but both declined to reveal the agenda of the meeting.
"One thing for sure, the center of the Indonesian political gravity is currently in Bali. Many political figures now gather there," Pramono said.
In the next several days, the party will determine a vice presidential candidate to pair with Jokowi and both Megawati and Jokowi already had the names of the candidates. However, Pramono declined to give clues for the names. "Because only the two of them have the authority," Pramono said.
On Friday last week, Jokowi said the party has narrowed down names of the vice presidential candidates, while one week earlier, he said to have already had five candidates.
A source from PDI-P politicians told Tempo that there are three names that would potentially become candidates for Jokowi’s vice.
They are former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, former Army chief of staff Ryamizard Ryacudu, and former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD.
Of the three candidates, Jusuf Kalla is considered the one with the highest electability according to several surveys done in the past year.
For the record, NasDem party, which has declared its coalition with PDI-P, also gave its support to Jusuf Kalla.
PUTU HERY INDRAWAN | LINDA TRIANITA | KHAIRUL ANAM | AMRI MAHBUB | SUNDARI | ANTON A
