TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - M Jusuf Kalla, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Jokowi-Amin national campaign team (TKN), has said that based on a survey, many millennials predict a victory for incumbent Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and his running mate Ma`ruf Amin in the upcoming presidential elections.

"I briefly read (the result of the survey) that the millennial generation in the next elections will prefer to choose the number 1 (Jokowi-Amin). This is not a campaign but just the issued data," Kalla stated, while addressing the Indonesian Millennial Summit 2019, here, on Saturday.

The millennials` preference for Jokowi was due to the leadership of Erick Thohir, who is chief of the Jokowi-Amin TKN, he noted.

"Thohir has been appointed as the campaign team leader. The younger generation has more faith because of the influence of Thohir," he stated.

Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate Sandiaga Uno believed that the choice of the millennials has shifted after they watched the presidential candidate debate held for the first time on Jan 17, 2019.

Based on an internal survey of the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno campaign team, many millennials accepted the statements of Subianto and Uno better during the debate.

Uno remarked that he and his team would intensify their engagement with the younger generation during the ongoing campaign period.

Indonesia will organize presidential elections on April 17, 2019, which is considered by many as a repeat of the bitter 2014 presidential race, wherein incumbent Jokowi and Subianto are again set to go head-to-head.

Seeking a second term, Jokowi, a furniture businessman, has picked Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, as his partner, while retired general Subianto has chosen Uno, a young and successful entrepreneur and former deputy governor of Jakarta, as his running mate.

The Jokowi - Amin pair is backed by a coalition called the Working Indonesian Coalition involving nine political parties that have set up a national campaign team for Jokowi.

The Subianto-Uno pair is supported by only four political parties, notably Gerindra, which is founded by Subianto; National Mandate Party; Justice Prosperous Party; and Democratic Party established by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The next presidential candidate debates are scheduled for February 17, March 17, March 30, and April 13, 2019.

ANTARA