Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) on Sunday officially announced its leader, Hatta Rajasa, as its presidential candidate for the 2014 elections, but doubts linger about the electability of Hatta and his party.
According to a survey conducted by Indo Barometer, former president and current Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri was the frontrunner for the 2014 presidential race, backed by 22.1 of respondents, while only 1.6 percent backed Hatta, who now serves as the coordinating economic minister.
Another survey, conducted by the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate, ranks Hatta 10th on a list of presidential hopefuls, with only 2.8 percent of respondents supporting him, while a survey conducted by Indoresearch showed Hatta receiving similarly minimal 2.1 percent of votes.
Syamsuddin Haris, a political observer at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said Hatta had slim chances of winning in the 2014 election, since the 58-year-old PAN member "lacked a clear base of supporters" compared to other presidential hopefuls.
"Even [PAN founder] Amien Rais, who had a clear and strong base of supporters as the former chairman of Muhammadiyah, failed in his presidential campaign," he said.
Syamsuddin went on to explain that PAN's decision to nominate Hatta as its presidential candidate was "way too premature", and said the party should instead focus on improving its electability before announcing its presidential candidate.
"The real battle for PAN is actually in the general election. PAN is a relatively small [party] in terms of electability and there is no guarantee [PAN] will pass the 2014 election threshold, which is set to increase."
PAN, which garnered 6.01 percent of the ballot in the 2009 general election, was the first party to officially declare its presidential candidate for the 2014 election.
While reports that the Golkar Party is supporting Aburizal Bakrie as its presidential candidate for 2014, the party has not yet officially announced its candidate.
Other major political parties, such as the Democratic Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), have also not yet announced presidential candidates.
Speculation has emerged that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party is currently weighing the option of forming a coalition with PAN to support Hatta's presidential bid due to the lack of powerful figures within the party who would be suitable as presidential candidates.
The already close ties between Yudhoyono and Hatta were notably strengthened when Aliya Rajasa, Hatta's daughter, wed the President's youngest son, Edhie "Ibas" Baskoro Yudhoyono.
Democratic Party chief Anas Urbaningrum dismissed the rumor. "Congratulations to Pak Hatta Rajasa for the candidateship. The Democratic Party has not yet discussed its presidential candidate, let alone a coalition [with PAN] on presidential nomination.
"We are currently concentrating on supporting President Yudhoyono's administration and continuing the party's consolidation," Anas told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Despite his low electability, leaked diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks in August revealed that the United States supported Hatta as presidential candidate for the 2014 election, describing several ministers including Hatta as "promising allies" for a "comprehensive partnership" with the US. (sat)