Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, voted Sultan Hamengkubuwono X the party's preferred vice presidential candidate during the final day of its national conference on Wednesday.
However, any final decision on who will pair with former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the party's chairwoman, will rest with a second internal poll, senior PDI-P legislator Andreas Pareira said.
Wednesday's voting process, in which provincial branches cast ballots for one of more candidates, could open the door to accusations that money politics may play a role in the party's final decision.
However, one observer said during the conference that Megawati's desire to regain office would be the overriding factor in any final decision by the PDI-P, such was her desire to dethrone her usurpers, incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Party secretary general Pramono Anung said Hamengkubuwono, the governor of Yogyakarta, received 33 votes in the poll, followed by Prabowo Subianto, founder of the Great Indonesian Movement, or Gerindra, with 28 votes.
Hidayat Nurwahid, the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and a senior member of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party, or PKS, secured 15 votes.
In a surprise fourth, a member of the Golkar Party's advisory board, media mogul Surya Paloh, garnered 14 votes.
"Maybe that's because he has a close relationship with Taufik Kiemas," Pramono said, referring to Megawati's husband, who chairs the PDI-P advisory board.
Former Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung came in fifth with 13 votes, while Wiranto, of the People's Conscience Party, Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad and former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso each secured five votes.
Worthy of note is that of the top eight contenders, all but Nurwahid and Sutiyoso are former or current heavyweights from Golkar, the former political vehicle of the late dictator Suharto.
Andreas, from the PDI-P's West Java provincial chapter, said that the party had learned its lesson from the 2004 presidential election, when Megawati, then the incumbent president, and Hasyim Muzadi were defeated by the Yudhoyono-Kalla ticket.
"In 2004, we failed to conduct the necessary research before deciding on a [vice presidential] candidate, but now we know that we have to choose the candidate based on research," Andreas said.
Pramono said that the PDI-P would establish a special team comprising 12 senior figures and party members, including former Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif and analyst Faisal Basri, to make a final decision.
The selection mechanism has added much interest to the presidential election, which is expected to come down to a battle between Yudhoyono, of the Democratic Party, and Megawati, though the large percentage of undecided voters could yet throw a wrench in the works.
The powerful Golkar Party, chaired by Kalla, is yet to formally decide if it will contest the July presidential election and is officially waiting for the results of the April 9 legislative elections before weighing in.
However, Kalla has been positioning himself to again run with Yudhoyono, to the contest the presidential elections.