Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Wiranto, a retired Army general who was strongman President Suharto's last military chief, said on Tuesday that he would run for president in 2014, claiming that leaders of the party he founded and chairs still considered him a popular figure.

Wiranto said in Jakarta that leaders of all 33 provincial branches of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) reached a consensus in a recent national working meeting of the party, agreeing that Wiranto was the party's best shot at the presidency.

"Considering the very high popularity of the chairman, the provincial branches have asked Hanura to again nominate the chairman as a presidential candidate in 2014," Wiranto said, referring to himself.

Wiranto said that Hanura had yet to make a final a decision on whether to nominate him, and that he still hadn't decided whether to run.

Wiranto first ran for president in 2004, Indonesia's first-ever direct presidential election. He was backed by the Golkar Party, which was Suharto's political vehicle. Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leader Salahuddin Wahid served as his running mate. But Wiranto lost to current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In 2006 Wiranto founded Hanura, and he was on the ticket again in 2009, this time as the running mate of Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla. But the pair lost again as Yudhoyono was appointed to his second term as president. (BeritaSatu/JG)