PDIP Politician Calls Ganjar A Vice Presidential Candidate Prabowo A Impossible

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with Governor Ganjar Pranowo and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto in Central Java August 2023 (Doc: Setneg)

JAKARTA - Secretary of the Volunteer Coordination Team for Winning the PDIP Presidential Election, Deddy Yevry Sitorus, said that the discourse on the Prabowo Subianto-Ganjar Pranowo duet was impossible to realize.

The reason is that PDIP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri has given a mandate to Ganjar to become a presidential candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

"I think it is almost impossible to make Mas Ganjar a vice presidential candidate because he has been appointed as a presidential candidate. There has never been a precedent for the PDI-P, especially Mrs. Megawati, to withdraw the decision, let alone reduce the degree of assignment," said Deddy to reporters, Friday, September 22.

Moreover, continued Deddy, the assignment to Ganjar to continue President Joko Widodo's leadership relay has gone through a long process. Therefore, according to him, currently the PDIP coalition is only left to find a vice presidential candidate suitable for the former governor of Central Java.

"Pak Ganjar is the best cadre of the PDI-P to become a presidential candidate at this time, and it has gone through deep considerations, extensive and long discussions," explained Deddy. "The current concentration of the general chairman and leader of the supporting party is deciding the vice president, not the others," he said.

Even so, Deddy did not want to precede Megawati's decision. He left it entirely to the general chairman regarding the discourse of the Prabowo-Ganjar duet in the upcoming presidential election. "Whatever it is, we leave it to the general chairman because he was given the mandate by the party congress as the highest decision-making forum," said Deddy.

Meanwhile, Gerindra Party politician Ahmad Riza Patria admitted that his party was open to the opportunity for the general chairman duet, Prabowo Subianto paired with Ganjar Pranowo in the 2024 presidential election.

Now, Ganjar and Prabowo are both promoted as presidential candidates by the coalition of supporting parties. Ganjar was promoted by PDIP and PPP, while Prabowo was promoted by Gerindra, Golkar, PAN, and Democrats.

Riza said the Gerindra Party invited PDIP to pair Prabowo with Ganjar. According to him, the possibility is still there as long as the determination of the presidential and vice presidential candidates has not been carried out.

This was revealed by Riza after attending the Democratic Party National Leadership Meeting (Rapimnas) which officially announced its support for Prabowo as a presidential candidate in 2024.

"If PDIP friends have the idea that it is very possible for PDIP to join Gerindra in politics, yes, as long as it has not been decided by the KPU, everything is very possible," said Riza at the JCC, Central Jakarta, Thursday, September 21 evening.

However, the chairman of the DKI Jakarta Gerindra DPD emphasized that whoever is the duet pair in the 2024 presidential election, Prabowo must be his presidential candidate. This has been agreed upon in the Gerindra National Working Meeting in August 2022.

"If Pak Ganjar wants to join the Forward Indonesia Coalition, of course we will give the widest possible space to be able to work together. But for the presidential candidate, it has been completed. There is no choice except Pak Prabowo as a presidential candidate," he said.