Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, announced the nomination of the Governor of Central Java as a candidate in the February 2024 presidential election. It was initially thought that he would choose his daughter, the current Speaker of the House. President Joko Widodo approved the decision. So far there are two other contenders.
Jakarta () – The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has presented the governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo, as its candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for February 2024.
The announcement was made on April 21 by the party’s chairwoman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 and daughter of the nation’s first leader, Sukarno. The decision to elect Pranowo is seen by many as the best way to defend Indonesia’s pluralism and secularism from fundamentalist Islamic forces, who would like to adopt shari’a (Islamic law) instead of Pancasila, philosophical thinking. on which the Indonesian state has been based since its independence in 1945 .
Indonesia is the country with the largest number of Muslims in the world.
“It is becoming the responsibility of the nation to stay with the course of history” as the founding fathers envisioned it, and to continue to advocate for a secular state. “My decision to elect Pranowo has not been an easy task,” Megawati said. Sukarnoputri, adding that he made his decision after a series of talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and with his daughter, Puan Maharani and son, Muhammad Prananda Prabowo, both members of PDI-P.
In recent weeks, many thought that Megawati would prefer her daughter Puan Maharani, the current Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, over Pranowo, but public opinion immediately accused her of nepotism. “I made this decision with my heart, conscience and rationality, after discussing it with all the key members of the PDI-P, including President Joko Widodo,” Megawati added.
Ganjar Pranowo will now face the other two contenders for the election: former general and current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto of the conservative Greater Indonesia Movement (or Gerindra) party and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. , candidate of the National Democratic Party (better known as NasDem).
Pranowo has been a member of the PDI-P since the 1990s and during a split from the party sided with Megawati Sukarnoputri, a decision that allowed him to make a career. Elected as the governor of Central Java for the first time in 2013 and then for the second time in 2018, he has led a series of campaigns against local government corruption for which he has been recognized by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Tukiman Taruna Sayoga, a professor at Soegijapranata Catholic University in Semarang, the capital of Central Java province, has known Ganjar Pranowo for a long time and has helped him on several occasions. Interviewed by , he said: “I am happy that Megawati Sukarnoputri has finally nominated Ganjar Pranowo as his presidential candidate. His choice is correct and fair. I know Pranowo very well. He is a figure who cares about the nation, very humble and hospitable. and he always does good. He is a man of action and a direct person. As a Catholic from Central Java, I fully support him to be our next president.”
