AHY Wants Anies' Vice Presidential Candidate To Be Decided Immediately: The Better The Chances Of Success

Chairman of the DPP Democratic Party Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (left three) when giving a statement at the DPP office of the Democratic Party, Jakarta, Wednesday (7/6/2023). (ANTARA/Genta Tenri Mawangi)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Democratic Party Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) assesses that if the Coalition for Change for Unity (KPP) accelerates to announce a companion for the prospective presidential candidate (candidate) Anies Baswedan, then the opportunity to win in the 2024 presidential election is greater.

After keeping in touch with the Joint Secretariat (Sekber) of the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB), AHY believes that if the pair will be presidential and vice presidential candidates (cawapres) will not be determined immediately, then the remaining time for consolidation will be narrower; so that coalition work will be more complicated.

"I don't want to make assumptions too much, but I go back to the basic thesis of logic, which is to quickly unite, integrate, both system and person by person, then the level or chance of success should be better," AHY said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 7.

According to him, Indonesia is not a continuous country (land), but an archipelago; so it will take a long time to meet voters in various regions.

"Indonesia is wide, not a continental country that can only be reached by land trips, often by air, often by sea, and our population is large. Our population is more than 200 million people. Trying to get just one percent, which means winning 2 million votes," he explained.

Likewise with the Democratic Party and other KPP members, namely the NasDem Party and PKS. He said the coalition certainly had great hopes of reaching all the people and not only meeting people in big cities.

"Thus, it is necessary for machines to work very effectively. Political parties as carriers, God willing, at that time they must also run crisis management, campaign management which is also modern, and also take root with our society and constituents," said the first son of the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia SusiloBambang Yudhoyono (SBY).

Meanwhile, the Coordinator for the DPP Spokesperson for the Democratic Party, Herzaky Mahendra Putra, emphasized that AHY's statement was not a form of pressure for the coalition to announce the name that would be paired with former DKI Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan.

The Democratic Party's concerns were more about the timing of the determination of the presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate, because it had an effect on the effectiveness of winning work for the 2024 presidential election.

Based on the Democratic Party's data and experience, Herzaky conveyed the ideal time for winning the presidential election for about six to eight months.

"Twisting (Indonesia) is scientifically, our experience is six to eight months, because even in developed countries it takes on average six months before (election), it must announce (pair presidential and vice-presidential candidates). This is our benchmark and learning," he said.

He explained that the situation would be different if the electability level of Anies Baswedan, as released by several survey institutions, was far from its competitors, namely Ganjar Pranowo and Prabowo Subianto.

"We see the current survey, Mas Anies is not at the forefront, not at the top, not far superior. Except, Mas Anies currently (his electability level) is 40 percent superior far from others, so that the vice president is more complete," he explained.

According to him, the electability rate of the three figures who are considered to have the opportunity to run as candidates for the 2024 presidential election is not much different.

Therefore, the figure of the prospective vice presidential candidate can be used to boost the vote acquisition during the presidential election which is scheduled for February 14, 2024.