PDI-P's Criteria for Presidential Candidate Lead to Jokowi  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will formulate the criteria for its presidential candidate in a national work meeting beginning Friday-Sunday this week. One of the proposed criteria requiring the candidate to be a former regional chief will also be discussed during the meeting.

PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo said all PDI-P cadres from the House and officials of the party’s branches in provinces and regencies/municipalities would attend the meeting.

“We are still focusing on winning the legislative elections first,” he said yesterday after attending a meeting at the party’s office.

Chairman of PDI-P central executive board (DPP) Djarot Saiful Hidajat admitted one of the criteria for the party’s presidential candidate was the person be an ex-regional chief. “A figure who once led a region will be more competent,” Djarot told Tempo.

Djarot added another criterion was the candidate must recognize Pancasila and marhaenism as his or her ideologies. “We will discuss these criteria in the special commission,” he said.

Djarot admitted the party required the candidate to be a Javanese and Muslim, saying other parties also adopted such criteria.

PDI-P cadre boasting the highest electability thus far is Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo. The former Solo Mayor’s popularity outshines those of other presidential contenders, including Golkar Party chief Aburizal Bakrie, Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra)’s supervisory council chief Prabowo Subianto, and even his own party’s top chief Megawati Soekarnoputri.

However, Djarot dismissed the rumors that the party’s criteria were designed to meet Jokowi’profile, saying that the party had many other cadres who fitted the criteria. “We have many governors, including those of Central Java, South Kalimantan, and others,” the former Blitar Mayor said.

Governor Joko Widodo is slated to deliver a speech in the party’s upcoming meeting. Djarot again dismissed the assumptions that the speech was related to Jokowi’s nomination as the party’s presidential candidate. “This is only a welcome speech from the Jakarta Governor.”

PDI-P’s faction chief at the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, said the criteria for the party’s presidential candidate would be determined in the work meeting, in which aspirations from regions would also be discussed. “Those will also be the topics in the discussion,” she said.

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