Carlos Paath – The Great Indonesia Movement Party says it hopes to get the support of the country's main opposition party as it waits for the right moment to officially declare its chief patron and founder, Prabowo Subianto, as its presidential candidate.
"We are still assessing this and waiting for the right time or moment," Ahmad Muzani, the secretary general of the party known as Gerindra, said on Tuesday.
"There will be a time for us to show force. Prabowo has continuously carried out consolidation efforts in the regions as well as meeting with guests from various other parties."
Ahmad added that Gerindra was currently focused on winning the most votes in the 2014 legislative elections and ensuring that its legislative candidates were prepared to fight hard.
He acknowledged that while Prabowo was polling well in opinion surveys, his presidential bid would "still fail if the party is not solid."
Ahmad also expressed hope that Prabowo's imminent presidential nomination would earn the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the main opposition bloc. In the 2009 presidential election, Prabowo was the running mate to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the PDI-P chairwoman.
Ahmad also spoke to clarify a statement by Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon, who urged the PDI-P to return the favor and support Prabowo's bid rather than nominate its own presidential candidate. He stressed that Gerindra would not be against the PDI-P should it move forward with nominating its own candidate.
"In principle, I think Gerindra would respect the right of every political party to nominate a candidate, because that is the right of all parties. Gerindra will not interfere on that issue," he said.
On Monday, Fadli said he hoped that Joko Widodo, the PDI-P politician who tops opinion polls of potential presidential contenders, would honor his earlier vows to see through his term as the Jakarta governor and not seek the presidency in 2014.
"Joko has decided to focus on taking care of Jakarta and that has been proven by his efforts. We believe that," Fadli said as quoted by the Jawa Pos News Network.
"Our hope is that because in the 2009 election Gerindra supported Megawati, then we expect that in the 2014 election the PDI-P would also offer their support to Prabowo Subianto."
His statement quickly drew ire from PDI-P executives, who insisted Gerindra should not interfere with their plans. "Whoever will be nominated will be the PDI-P's decision. That is our prerogative," said Puan Maharani, a senior PDI-P member and Megawati's daughter.
Puan said Gerindra had no business worrying about whether the PDI-P would nominate Joko. "Joko is a member of the PDI-P," she said.
She added that by asking the PDI-P to support Prabowo, Fadli had given the impression that political decisions were always a matter of reciprocity. "Does every political decision have to be based on such negotiations?" she said.
Puan, who has also been mentioned several times as a potential PDI-P presidential candidate, said political parties should mind their own business and discuss their issues internally. "The fact is that Joko Widodo is still the governor of Jakarta. Every political party should just mind their own business," she said.
PDI-P secretary general Tjahjo Kumolo called Fadli's remarks unethical. "Where are their ethics? What makes them think they can forbid [Joko from running]?" he said, as quoted by Okezone.com. "Joko is a PDI-P member."
In response to the PDI-P's reaction, Ahmad said his party was merely reminding Joko of his promises to the people.
"We simply wanted to remind the PDI-P that Joko once made a promise to us and to the people of Jakarta to concentrate on taking care of Jakarta," he said. "This is not said out of fear with regard to Joko's electability."
Joko has consistently emerged as the most popular and well-regarded public figure in various polls ahead of the election, with Prabowo following in second.
Meanwhile, Gerindra legislator Martin Hutabarat warned that certain parties could try to scupper Gerindra's plan to nominate Prabowo, claiming they felt threatened by Prabowo's corruption eradication plans.
"Those corruptors will not be happy with Prabowo's strategy to eliminate corruption if elected president," he said on Monday, adding that Prabowo would not be fazed by the opposition.
"If Prabowo is elected, he will have no fears. Prabowo will feel that he is elected by the people and will therefore carry out the people's mandate."
According to Martin, Prabowo will be promoting a reform of the justice system as part of his program, in addition to strengthening anti-corruption efforts.
"We will be consistent in supporting the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission]. If Prabowo is elected, he will build an exceptional partnership between the government and the KPK," he said.
Andrianto, secretary general of the Activists for Democracy Network (Prodem) said efforts by "shady conglomerates" to undermine Prabowo's presidential bid would be inevitable.
"They will try stop him, that's for sure. Especially conglomerates whose businesses are violating the law and are used to practicing KKN [corruption, collusion and nepotism], because he has a clear vision." he said.
Andrianto said Prabowo had a nationalist vision. "His track record is clean. Because Prabowo also comes from a well-off family he is a team builder who can face future challenges coming from the globalization era," he said.
Separately, Prabowo himself called on the young generation not to be afraid of being involved in politics.
"I am not sugarcoating things. You will face plenty of challenges in trying to do good. But you will have to realize that if no one tries to fight for goodness, then politics will be filled by bad people," he said last week to students from Surabaya's Airlangga University who were visiting Gerindra's Jakarta headquarters.
Prabowo told the students that Gerindra was the only political party that had laid out a clear vision for the next generation.
Ondy A. Saputra, Gerindra's communications chief, said the students had visited Gerindra's headquarters to learn more about the party's platform and work programs.
"The visit by those students is something positive. They are learning about how politics works and we have also received a lot of input from them. Students are the future generation who will be taking on our fight to build the country and the nation," Ondy said.