The results of the Kompas Litbang survey last January showed that figures with military backgrounds (32.5 percent) and regional heads (32.3 percent) were considered the most suitable candidates for presidential candidate
By
IQBAL BASYARI, RINI KUSTIASIH
·4 minutes read
KOMPAS
The Big Three Presidential Candidates Version of the Kompas Research and Development Survey
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — A number of political parties are still trying to get their cadres to run as presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election. They will face a formidable challenge because apart from the unconvincing electability of some, the majority of the public believes figures with experience as a regional head or a military background are more suitable as a presidential candidate.
Citing the results of the Kompas Research and Development (Litbang) survey in January, there were at least 13 figures who were referred by the public as potential presidential candidates. The three figures with the highest electability were the chairman of the Gerindra Party and Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. If accumulated, the electability of the three exceeded 50 percent.
The survey results also showed that figures with a military background (32.5 percent) and regional heads (32.3 percent) were considered the most suitable to be presidential candidates. Meanwhile, 8.3 percent of those surveyed believed a presidential candidate should have a bureaucratic background, such as a minister or head of a state institution, while 2.6 percent of those surveyed said candidates must have a background in leadership or political party management.
Deputy chairman of the Golkar Party, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, said Tuesday (22/2/2022), that although chairman Airlangga Hartarto's electability had not yet reached the top three presidential candidates, Golkar was still optimistic about campaigning for him as a presidential candidate. It is said the campaign had become more intense over the last three months, along with Airlangga's increasing involvement in the regions, and will continue until the 2024 presidential election (Pilpres).
The party will continue to monitor the public response as input for formulating strategies. The survey results of a number of institutions are also used for evaluation in addition to internal surveys.
In line with Golkar, the National Awakening Party (PKB) also continues to strive so that PKB chairman Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar can run in the 2024 presidential election. Deputy secretary-general of the PKB Neng Eem Marhamah said her party cadres had agreed that the PKB should nominate Muhaimin .
The PKB is not worried about the increasing electability of Ganjar and Anies because they currently have the “political stage” as regional heads, however, neither of them are necessarily supported by political parties. "It must be remembered that politics is dynamic, especially since there is still a long time to go," she said.
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
A series of portraits of the presidents of the Republic of Indonesia are depicted on a wall in the Cipondoh area, Tangerang, Banten, Wednesday (18/8/2021).
Wait Megawati
As for the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), a decision has not yet been made even though four of its party cadres, namely Ganjar, Tri Rismaharini, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and Puan Maharani, were mentioned in the survey. PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said the party was still waiting for views from PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. "This [Megawati’s] view takes into account the inner voice of the people," he said.
Secretary-general of Gerindra Ahmad Muzani, during an interview with Kompas in early February, also stated that he was still waiting for Prabowo's response. Even though all solid cadres want Prabowo to run again in the presidential election, so far Prabowo has not provided an answer.
However, according to Muzani, Gerindra had started making simulations of names who could be Prabowo's running mate. Communication with other political parties has also been established to build a presidential election coalition.
Notes for political parties
A senior researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Firman Noor, sees that presidential candidates from political parties have not sufficiently convinced the public that they are worthy to lead this country, as they prefer those with experience as regional heads or having a military background. Especially for Prabowo, he assessed that his electability was high because the public still sees him as a figure with a military background. As for Ganjar, it was because of his position as governor.
"This serves as a reminder for political parties because they need to work hard to convince the general public that political party cadres have the capacity to become a presidential candidate," he said.
He also believed that a number of political parties would continue to promote their cadres as presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election because this is a strategy to boost the electability of political parties. However, as the election is approaching, political parties are expected to be more realistic, especially if the electability of their cadres does not increase. It is believed that political parties will prefer figures with high electability. "The political parties, whose goals are to nominate their general chairman, must bow down [to the reality that someone has more electability]," he said.
