Indonesia's ruling party backs provincial governor Ganjar as its presidential candidate

INDONESIA’S ruling party on Friday (Apr 21) endorsed a provincial governor as its candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

Ganjar Pranowo, the governor of one of the Indonesia’s most populous provinces, Central Java, is up against former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and ex-special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, in what is expected to be a hotly contested race to succeed Joko Widodo and lead the world’s third-largest democracy.

The announcement was made at a livestreamed event by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), which holds the most seats in parliament and leads the ruling coalition.

It ends months of political uncertainty after some key government officials suggested that Jokowi, the highly popular incumbent, should extend his tenure beyond the two terms allowed by the constitution.

Legal manoeuvres by several obscure political parties to try to delay the election had compounded concerns.

Governor of Central Java since 2013, Ganjar is among a generation of provincial leaders from outside of Indonesia’s political elite who have built their voter base on a track record of reform, efficiency and transparency.

But Ganjar saw his popularity dip this month after he backed another governor’s call to stop Israel from taking part in next month’s Fifa Under-20 World Cup, which Muslim-majority Indonesia was due to host.

It was subsequently dropped as host by football’s world governing body Fifa subsequently, leaving both fans and players dismayed.

Indonesia does not have formal ties with Israel and has long been a supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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After the fracas, a survey by Indikator Politik released in April showed twice-defeated presidential hopeful Prabowo had taken a five-point lead over Ganjar.

The poll showed Prabowo with the backing of 32 per cent of respondents while Ganjar and Anies got 28 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. REUTERS