JAKARTA: A week after the legislative elections in Indonesia, political parties are working hard to form coalitions to better their chances at the July 9 presidential elections.
Indonesia's top three political parties in this general election -- PDI-P, Golkar and Gerindra -- have become coalition focal points.
Jakarta governor Joko Widodo of the PDI-P, business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie of Golkar and former general Prabowo Subianto of Gerindra are the stalwarts of their parties and likely presidential candidates.
Nasdem and the National Awakening Party (PKB) have expressed their support for the PDI-P.
Hanura has announced it will be in a coalition with Golkar.
And sources close to the National Mandate Party (PAN) said it is almost certain to form a coalition with Gerindra, and that the ruling Democratic Party is also likely to join their alliance.
The Democratic Party has not yet announced who they will back or whether they will nominate a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.
But many are expecting that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law, former general Pramono Eddie Wibowo, will be its vice-presidential candidate.
Still, political analyst Djayadi Hanan feels that if the Democratic Party does nominate a candidate for vice-president, it would be better to have a civilian rather than someone with a military background.
He said: “If the decision is still to stick with the nomination of Pramono Eddie Wibowo, then… I think it is politically not possible to pair Pramono Edhie Wibowo with Prabowo.
“You can say that there is no problem with the dichotomy between a civilian figure and a military figure but, at least in the Indonesian political landscape so far, it is politically not feasible to pair one former general with another formal general.”
Several other names have been floated as potential Democratic Party vice-presidential candidates to pair up with Gerindra's Prabowo Subianto.
They include current Minister of State Enterprises Dahlan Iskan and former Trade Minister Gita Wiryawan.
The top three political parties are expected to formally announce their coalitions by next week at the latest.
Source/Fuente: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/political-parties-form/1...
