Jakarta. Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chairman Prabowo Subianto has floated Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Abraham Samad as a preferred running mate for the July 9 presidential election, party officials said.
“Pak Prabowo has been considering suggestions from many parties, and Abraham Samad is among the recommended names,” Budi Purnomo Karjodihardjo, who runs Prabowo’s media center, told state-run Antara news agency on Monday. “Prabowo wants Abraham Samad to be his vice-presidential candidate.”
Budi said Prabowo thought that he and Abraham would make a good pair, citing the the KPK head’s “proven leadership capacity” in running the anti-graft body.
Since Abraham assumed his role in the KPK in late 2011, a string of high-profile corruption suspects have been arrested, including former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar and Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, while others are standing trial, including former sports minister Andi Alfian Mallarangeng.
“According to Pak Prabowo… it is this kind of young figure that the country needs,” Budi said in Jakarta.
Abraham on Sunday said he did not intend to run for vice president as part of Prabowo’s ticket.
“I just want to be KPK chief until my terms end [in 2015],” he told journalists. “Being a KPK chief is my heart’s calling; it’s part of a fight for the interest of many people.”
Before accepting his party’s nomination, however, Joko spoke in similar terms.
In recent years, Abraham has for the most part abstained from involving himself in politics. But he has pursued public office in the past, including a failed 2004 run as a legislative candidate for South Sulawesi as a member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) — then the Justice Party (PK). He considered a second bid in 2009 but decided to focus instead on the KPK, according to Indonesian news portal Temp.co.
Prabowo has consistently trailed widely popular Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo in the polls, even before Joko’s nomination by his party — the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) — on Friday.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prabowo-floats-kpk-chief-running-mate/
