Golkar’s proposal to nominate Mr Hartarto as Mr Subianto’s running mate does not bode well for KIB member, the National Awakening Party (PKB), which wants its own chairman, Mr Muhaimin Iskandar, as a vice-presidential candidate.
“PKB will be supporting Prabowo as presidential candidate,” PKB campaign manager Faisol Reza told reporters after meeting with Golkar representatives on Wednesday.
Mr Faisol said his party was hoping that Mr Subianto would choose its chairman as his running mate.
“We would be happy if Airlangga becomes (Subianto’s) campaign director,” he said, adding that the PKB is willing to support Mr Subianto with or without the rest of the coalition.
The PKB is the fourth biggest party in Indonesia with just 58 seats in parliament compared with Golkar’s 85 seats. However, Mr Muhaimin – the PKB chairman – has been doing better in the polls compared to Golkar’s Hartarto.
Mr Nusron of Golkar said his party will continue to stage talks with its coalition partners – PKB and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – on who to nominate as Mr Subianto’s running mate.
“(Coalition members) are not fighting. We are having a discussion. In the end, it is up to Prabowo who he is willing to accept,” he said.
But Golkar might not be as committed as the PKB in its support towards Mr Subianto with Mr Nusron saying that Golkar “will discuss it internally first” should the Gerindra party chairman choose a different name as his running mate.
The PAN has not announced who it is supporting for next year’s presidential election, although several members wants the party to throw its weight behind former Jakarta governor, Mr Anies Baswedan.
Mr Baswedan’s candidacy is currently backed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Democratic Party (Nasdem).
Indonesian president Joko Widodo on May 4 said that Nasdem is no longer a part of the pro-government coalition.
According to last week’s poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute, 26.5 per cent of those surveyed said they will vote for Mr Subianto at next year’s election while Mr Pranowo and Mr Baswedan received the approval of 24.9 per cent and 19.8 per cent of voters respectively.
The presidential election will be held on Feb 14, 2024.