Indonesia presidential election: Anies Baswedan picks head of Islamic party as running mate
- Anies’ running mate Muhaimin Iskandar is leader of PKB, which has strong ties with NU, Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organisation that boasts 40 million members
- Move could backfire as Anies promised to choose former president Yudhoyono’s son as his running mate, which resulted in his party withdrawing from a coalition
Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on Saturday named the chairman of Indonesia’s largest Islamic party as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election, a move aimed at boosting his popularity in the Muslim majority country.
Anies, however, has been falling behind. His vice-presidential pick, Muhaimin Iskandar, leads the National Awakening Party (PKB), which has strong ties with Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), that boasts 40 million members.
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Prabowo and Ganjar have yet to name their vice-president choices. Candidates are expected to formally register between October and November.
“With PKB joining, it feels like this coalition will move faster, be bigger and more stable,” Anies said in a rally broadcast from the city of Surabaya, East Java.
Running with Muhaimin could broaden Anies’ appeal to voters, as PKB and NU are seen as promoters of moderate Islam, said political analyst Djayadi Hanan, adding that Anies needed “a breakthrough” as his base voters were mostly conservatives.
Choosing Muhaimin could, however, harm Anies chances after former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his party withdrew from Anies’ coalition on Friday, accusing him of back-pedalling on a promise to choose Yudhoyono’s son as his running mate.
“If you cannot be trusted now, cannot keep commitments, what will you do when you hold great power?” the former president said.
The decision could also hurt the campaign of defence minister Prabowo. Muhaimin had previously pledged to support the controversial ex-special forces general in 2024.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, a senior member of Prabowo’s Gerindra party, said the announcement “automatically ended the political cooperation of Gerindra and PKB” but added his party respected Muhaimin’s decision.
