Erick Thohir Is The Strongest Vice President Candidate, Young Leader: Indonesia Needs An Entrepreneur Who Understands The Economy

Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - General Chairperson of PB HMI 2013-2015, Arief Rosyid Hasan emphasized that Erick Thohir is a representative figure as a candidate for vice president (Bacawapres).

Arief conveyed this in a dialogue on one of the national tvs entitled "Maintaining the Electability of the 2024 Vice Presidential Candidate", on Wednesday 11 October.

In the broadcast, Arief's statement was also confirmed by other resource persons, Executive Director of Indonesian Political Indicators, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, who explained that support for Erick Thohir was more equitable than other vice presidential candidates. Based on a survey conducted by Indonesian Political Indicators, Erick Thohir consistently occupies the top position in the readwapres survey in each region.

Erick's survey results are different from other candidates such as Ridwan Kamil, who is only strong in the Banten & West Java region, and Khofifah Indar Parawansa in East Java. Support for Erick comes from various regions in Indonesia. Only Sandiaga Uno has the same tendency as Erick. However, based on the electability number at the national level, Erick is far above other candidates.

East Java is currently a very influential area for grabs by pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates. In this context, Erick is still in the first position followed by Khofifah. Meanwhile, Mahfud MD and Muhaimin Iskandar, who were previously seeded, actually slipped and only won a small part of the vote (20.1 percent) in East Java. Although it is relatively new, Erick Thohir has proven to be able to win the trust of NU residents in East Java.

"I see Erick Thohir as a candidate for the vice presidential candidate for a complete and cold-handed package. Whatever he does he will definitely succeed. He is a businessman who understands the economy, professional, clean, is committed to strategic achievements, has good managerial abilities and encourages much more concrete benefits than other Muslim leaders," said Arief Rosyid, Friday, October 13.

According to Arief, the popularity of the survey could not be separated from Erick's contribution in fixing PSSI. His expertise when leading the federation had an impact on increasing public trust and his electability skyrocketed.

"Pak Erick treats supporters humanely. If he visits an area, he will definitely take the time to interact with his supporters. Supporters are considered as part of the football transformation agenda," added the young man who also serves as the Indonesian Football Supporter Trustee.

In line with Arief, Burhan also saw the upward trend in Erick Thohir's electability experienced a significant spike when he became chairman of PSSI. This is due to Indonesia's success in bringing gold medals to the 2023 SEA Games and a number of other achievements, including bringing in the Argentine world cup champion.

"The achievement of Erick Thohir in improving the quality of Indonesian football has an instant impact on his electability," said Burhan.

Arief concluded that this figure like Erick is what Indonesia needs. Apart from being professional, humanist, and representative, he is also part of a handful of people who are able to deliver to future economic agendas.

The future challenge for Indonesia is economic problems. Since 2012 the peak is 2035-2038, Indonesia has received a demographic bonus or a productive age surplus. The dream of becoming an Advanced Indonesia by President Jokowi can only be realized if the economy grows 7 percent every year and those with the capability that the Vice President Erick Thohir understands and is proven to be able to execute economic problems. Likewise, if you look at voter niches, as much as 52 percent according to KPU data are young voters. Therefore, Erick Thohir is a figure who will determine the victory of the 2024 presidential election. " he concluded.