The Campaign Trails
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is still busy with his schedule in the capital city Jakarta. His running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin is also staying in the capital city to continues his preparation for the vice presidential debate on Sunday (Mar. 17). In the meantime, their rival Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno intensified their campaign in the regions.
Golkar, Jokowi & 2019 Elections
The polling agency Konsep Indonesia (Konsepindo) Research & Consulting released the result of their electability survey on presidential pairs and political parties. Konsepindo found President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo leading the race by a significant margin. Interestingly, the people behind Konsepindo are connected to the Golkar Party, which is a member of Jokowi’s ruling coalition.
A Crackdown on JAD Cells
Indonesian National Police (POLRI)’s Counter-terrorism Detachment 88 (Densus 88) have made a series of arrests in the past few days. They arrested a suspected terrorist in Lampung on Saturday, March 9, and then another suspected terrorist on Sunday, March 10 in Kalimantan Barat. Yesterday (March 12), the Densus 88 again arrested a suspected terrorist in North Sumatera identified as Husain a.k.a. Abu Hamzah. Later in the evening, the Densus 88 surrounded Abu Hamzah’s house and nearly arrested his wife—she died by suicide.
The Campaign Trails
Presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is still in West Java, the most populous province in Indonesia. He’s been campaigning in the province for a week. His running mate Sandiaga Uno, meanwhile, went to Bali. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s running mate Ma’ruf Amin had returned to the capital city Jakarta from his campaign in North Sumatera, whereas the President will hit the road again on Friday (March 15) as he’s scheduled to visit North Sumatera.
The MK Justices & 2019 Elections
As predicted, the House of Representatives (DPR) re-elected Aswanto and Wahiduddin Adams as justices of the Constitutional Court (MK). With Aswanto’s and Wahiduddin’s re-election, we have the complete line-up of nine MK justices. Can they do their job to fairly adjudicate post-election disputes following the 2019 simultaneous presidential and legislative elections?
The Claim Game Continues
Contrary to the findings of almost all polling agencies, the National Victory Body (BPN) of Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno (Prabowo-Sandi) claimed that the electability of the pair has surpassed the electability of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin (Jokowi-Amin). The claim was made in response to the Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC) latest survey.
Ma’ruf Amin in Action
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin is showing the public that he has enough stamina and endurance. Ma’ruf Amin is still on the campaign trail. He’s visiting North Sumatera, the most populous province in the Island of Sumatera. There Ma’ruf visited the regencies/municipalities known to be the home ground of Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno (Prabowo-Sandi) supporters.
Jokowi, Prabowo & West Java Battleground
The incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his contender Prabowo Subianto continuous to fight for votes in West Java, the most populous province in the country. Interestingly, Jokowi has said that he can defeat Prabowo in the province. Prabowo’s camp, on the other hand, insist that they will continue to dominate West Java.
Political Outlook
Per the findings of polling agency Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC) the incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin (Jokowi-Amin) remains the leader of the presidential race. They’re leading the race by a significant margin over Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Sandiaga Uno (Prabowo-Sandi). The SMRC also found that the majority of the people still believe in the integrity of the election organizers.
2019 Legislative Election
Politician Fahri Hamzah recently made the so-called Gerakan Arah Baru Indonesia (Garbi), a mass organization he founded following his friction with his party PKS. Garbi is likely to endorse Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno (Prabowo-Sandi) in the 2019 presidential race considering Fahri’s close relationship to the pair. But the question is which party would Fahri and his Garbi align themselves with in the 2019 legislative election?