Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The United Development Party (PPP) is seriously considering naming former Vice President Jusuf Kalla as its presidential candidate for the 2014 presidential race.

Though Kalla is from Golkar Party, he garnered a substantial amount of votes from PPP cadres during the party's national working meeting in February, PPP deputy secretary-general Arwani Thomafi said on Monday.

The former chairman of the Golkar Party, which is set to nominate its current chairman Aburizal Bakrie in the upcoming presidential race, defeated other potential candidates from outside the party, including Constitutional Court chief Mahfud M. D., former Women's Empowerment Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan.

Arwani added that Kalla finished third, securing 9.6 percent of votes, in an electability poll performed by Saiful Mujani and Research Consulting in late June, after former President Megawati Sukarnoputri (17.6 percent) and Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (16.7 percent).

"JK's rather good electability will trigger interesting dynamics in our second national working meeting next year. In the end, PPP wants our presidential candidate to win the presidential election," Arwani said.

He added that PPP would continue to monitor Kalla's activities and the trend of his electability in polls conducted by various survey institutes.

The biggest challenge to Kalla's PPP nomination, according to Arwani, could come from the chairman of the party itself, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali.

PPP will discuss the issue further in its national working meeting next year. In the meantime, it has established a special unit to prepare for the 2014 presidential election headed by senior PPP politician Lukman Hakim Saefudin, Arwani said.