The 2019 Race: Day One
The campaign period for the 2019 presidential and legislative elections has kicked off Sunday (Sept 23) with a little incident during the signing of a declaration pledging a peaceful campaign, wherein Indonesia’s sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), leader of Democratic Party and supporter of Prabowo-Sandiaga, left the event earlier.
Aceh Province & The 2019 Race
Prabowo Subianto won 16 out of 23 regencies, taking 54.4% of the total votes, in 2014 election. Support from Partai Aceh, the largest political party in the province, was crucial for Prabowo’s victory. How about next year?
More Surprise from the Region for Jokowi (2)
This is a stressing time for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and his Democratic Party following the departure of their leaders, and the decision of their regional heads to support incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The Democratic Party is now busy denying the reports that their regional leader Wahidin Halim, who is the governor of Banten, has decided to endorse Jokowi. But SBY is not alone. Prabowo Subianto and his Gerindra Party are also facing the same ordeal.
More Surprise from the Region for Jokowi
Zulkieflimansyah and Sitti Rohmi Djalilah were sworn in as the new Governor and Vice Governor of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on Wednesday (Sep. 19). The pair replace TGH Muhammad Zainul Majdi a.k.a Tuan Guru Bajang (TGB) and Muhammad Amin. After the ceremony, both Zul and Sitti openly said that they support President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in the 2019 presidential race. This is very interesting since both are politicians from parties that endorse Prabowo Subianto.
Interesting Lawmaker Candidates to Watch (10)
Today (Sep. 20), the General Election Commission (KPU) will officially release the name of the lawmaker candidates and the presidential pairs who will compete in the 2019 simultaneous legislative and presidential elections. We’ve noted some interesting names of lawmaker candidates several past articles. In this occasion, let’s look into the six remaining electoral regions (Dapil) in East Java, the second most populous province in the country.
Buddhist Communities & 2019 Politics
On Tuesday (Sep. 18), at the State Palace in Jakarta, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo opened the first national congress (Munas) of Permabudhi, a new organization established by Buddhist communities in Indonesia to bridge the relation between the religion (Buddhist) and the State. This event deserves our attention because Permabudhi has explicitly endorsed Jokowi in the 2019 race, and because the organization is filled with influential figures and business people.
Jokowi’s Inner Circle: Moeldoko
The Deputy Secretary General the Democratic Party, Rachland Nashidik, accused the former Commander of the Military (TNI) General (ret.) Moeldoko (who is also the deputy head of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin national campaign team) of influencing the publication of Asia Sentinel’s controversial article on Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s presidency. We’re not interested to discuss the controversial article. We are instead interested in Moeldoko, who some believe will play a substantial role in Jokowi’s cabinet if the latter gets re-elected.
Surprise from West Sumatra for Jokowi
West Sumatra was among provinces Jokowi lost with huge margin four years ago. Things might have changed in the past four years though. And, that’s probably the reason why ten regents and mayors in the province long-dominated by Islamic party PKS have openly declared their support for Jokowi’s reelection in 2019 yesterday.
Imagining Prabowo’s Cabinet
In the previous article, we’ve briefly discussed the next cabinet of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should he be re-elected in 2019. Now, let’s talk about the figures that could influence to shape of Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet and/or become a part of the cabinet in the event Prabowo wins the race.
Jokowi-Ma’ruf Campaign Team
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate KH Ma’ruf Amin were present in the meeting of their national campaign team at the MNC building in Central Jakarta, on Monday (Sep. 17). This is the very first time for both Jokowi and Ma’ruf to attend the meeting of their campaign team. The meeting finalized the regional lineup of the campaign team in every province.