Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan have also declared their readiness to be presidential candidates.

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said he is ready to run if a political party declares him as a candidate for the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. 

He will join Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan who have already stated their intentions to stand in the election. 

Mr Pranowo made known of his readiness to run for the presidential race in an interview with local media BeritaSatu aired on Tuesday (Oct 18). 

Mr Pranowo was asked if he is ready to run, to which he replied: “For the nation and the country, ready.”

Pollsters have continuously ranked Mr Pranowo as a strong potential presidential candidate along with Mr Subianto and Mr Baswedan. 

However, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), where Mr Pranowo is a member, has yet to declare its preferred presidential candidate.

Instead, other political parties such as the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) have come out to endorse Mr Pranowo as their candidate, if Mr Pranowo decides to run in the 2024 presidential race.

A political party can only nominate a presidential candidate if it has at least 20 per cent of the total seats in parliament or obtained 25 per cent of votes in the previous legislative election. 

The only political party that can nominate a presidential candidate without forming a coalition is PDI-P which has 22.26 per cent of the seats in parliament.

Analysts believe that PDI-P’s head and the country’s former president Megawati Soekarnoputri is aiming for her daughter Puan Maharani to be the party’s presidential candidate. 

Mdm Maharani is the current speaker of the House of Representatives but various surveys show her electability is below 10 per cent.

Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto became the first politician to confirm his candidacy for the upcoming contest when he made his intention clear at his Gerindra party meeting in August. 

Gerindra, which is the third biggest party in parliament, and the National Awakening Party (PKB) have come out to back Mr Subianto’s latest bid for the presidency. 

Both Gerindra and PKB have more than 20 per cent of the seats in parliament. 

Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who does not belong to any political party, has been endorsed by the fourth-largest political party Nasdem. 

It is set to form a coalition with the Democrat Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), so it can officially nominate Mr Baswedan whose tenure as Jakarta’s governor ended last Sunday. 

The second biggest party in parliament, Golkar, formed a coalition with PAN and PPP a few months ago, called the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB). 

The coalition holds 25.73 per cent of the parliament seats enabling them to nominate a presidential candidate.

KIB is expected to announce its preferred presidential candidate in early November. 

Source: Channel News Asia