The 2019 Race: Muhammadiyah & NU
Din Syamsuddin has resigned from his position as special envoy of President of the Republic of Indonesia for interfaith dialogue and cultural cooperation. Din, who chairs the Indonesian Ulema Council’s (MUI) advisory board, was in the position for less than one year. He was appointed by President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo last October.
The 2019 Race: Riau
Riau, one of the resources-rich provinces in Indonesia, was one of provinces won by Prabowo Subianto in 2014 election whilst with narrow margin (around 7,000 votes). Some observers believe Prabowo will win again in the province, but others shared doubts. Humiliating loss of Golkar candidate Arsyadjuliandi Rahman in this year’s gubernatorial election to a candidate endorsed by National Mandate Party (PAN) supported the Prabowo win theory.
The 2019 Race: Jokowi & Political Education
n Friday Sep. 21, at the General Election Commission (KPU)’s headquarters, incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called for education in lieu of spreading hoax and slander during the campaign period. The content of Detik.com’s exclusive interview with the Minister of Environment & Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar may be a good example of such education. Instead of answering questions on deforestation with rhetorics, Minister Siti replied with data.
PKS’ Bizarre Relationship with Gerindra (2)
Gerindra Party politician Rahayu Saraswati Dhirakanya Djojohadikusumo (otherwise referred to as Saras), who is the daughter Hashim Djojohadikusumo (Prabowo Subianto’s brother), has been nominated for the position of vice governor of Jakarta. This happened just a few days after the Chairman of PKS Sohibul Iman told the press that Prabowo had said that the vice governorship was meant for PKS. Would this development make things worse between Gerindra and PKS?
Extended List of Political Cases & The Damage Limitation Mode
Ministry of information and communication has blocked skandalsandiaga.com, a website about alleged extra-marital relationships of Sandiaga Uno, running mate of Prabowo Subianto. Excerpts of the account, however, remain out there. Attorney General’s Office (AGO), in the meantime, stepped up investigation into the role of former South Sumatra governor Alex Noerdin in social assistance (Bansos) funds in the 2013 budget.
The 2019 Race: Gorontalo
Gorontalo is one of the smallest provinces in Indonesia with around 1.1 million people. This is also one of the provinces that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo lost to Prabowo Subianto back in the 2014 race by quite a substantial margin. At the time, Prabowo secured 378,735 votes (63.10%) whereas Jokowi collected 221,497 votes (36.90%). Will things change now?
The 2019 Race: South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi is the most populous province in the eastern part of Indonesia with 8 million people. This is one of the provinces that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo won in the 2014 presidential race by a significant margin from Prabowo Subianto. At the time, Jokowi and his running mate Jusuf Kalla secured 3,037,026 votes (71.43%), whereas Prabowo collected 1.214,857 votes (28.57%). Will Jokowi repeat this success?
Jokowi-Ma’ruf & 2019 Race
A day after the General Election Commission (KPU) declared President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto as presidential contenders, the President attended the reunion of the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) alumni and then, he went to Bali to officiate the opening of the long-awaited Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK) statue. Jokowi’s running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin, meanwhile, resigned from his position as the supreme leader (Rais Aam) of the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU). KH Miftachul Akhyar is his replacement.
Prabowo-Sandi Campaign Team (2)
As predicted Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra cadres, and those close to Prabowo, are the dominant presence in the Prabowo-Sandi national campaign team. Let’s look into some interesting names.
The 2019 Race: North Maluku
North Maluku is one of the smallest provinces in Indonesia with around 1.1 million population. But, every vote counts, right? Prabowo Subianto won majority votes in this province four years ago with quite significant margin. What’s the recent outlook?