ASEAN Today
14 August 2017
- RSIS
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- The 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election Race Starts Here
The 2019 Indonesian Presidential Election Race Starts Here
After politicians rejected proposed changes to the election nominations, manoeuvres ahead of the 2019 Indonesian Presidential election are underway.
It is unlikely that more than two or three candidates will stand due to the fragmented nature of Indonesian politics: the ruling coalition comprises five parties and the opposition coalition seven.
In 2014, no one party met the thresholds in place, so the parties formed two coalitions – one behind winner Joko Widodo (also known as Jokowi) and one in support of his opponent Prabowo Subianto.
However, the National Mandate Party (PAN), part of the ruling coalition, joined Gerindra, Prosperous Justice and the Democratic Party, in boycotting the vote, suggesting that alliances in place at the moment may not hold firm.
“The opposition led by Gerindra will likely start to raise issues to undermine the cohesion of Jokowi’s coalition, as Prabowo lays the groundwork for his presidential election,” assessed Emirza Adi Syailendra, an S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies researcher. “Jokowi has to drive a hard bargain to keep his coalition members from gravitating towards either Prabowo’s or Yudhoyono’s camp,” he added.
IDSS / Online
