TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Rhoma Irama, king of dangdut who was selected as a presidential candidate by the National Awakening Party (PKB), has officially resigned from the presidential race. "We have automatically withdrawn our support from the PKB," he said at a press conference in Jakarta, Friday, May 16.

According to Rhoma, there are two reasons behind his resignation. First, the political party's visions, missions and standpoint have sidetracked. Second, he was disappointed because the party did not acknowledge the impact of his presence.

"We are disappointed because the party did not acknowledge the Rhoma effect that had boosted the party's votes," he said. The second point was referring to the party's political attitude that declared their support to Jokowi, a presidential candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). Moreover, the party's central executive board, Marwan Jafar stated that the PKB's success during the legislative election was caused by the Nahdlatul Ulama effect not because of the Rhoma effect.

Rhoma claimed that he does not plan to make a coalition with one of supporters of presidential candidates. "There hasn’t been any direct political coordination," he said. But, he had opened political communication with a number of figures, amongst others were Suryadharma Ali, Abu Rizal Bakrie and, Hidayat Nur Wahid.

DINI PRAMITA