Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A number of political analysts are advising that the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle ignore the flood of polls favoring Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo as its presidential candidate, and bide its time in making its nomination. Their comments come as a senior official in the party suggests the nomination is a done deal.

Siti Zuhro, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that despite the hype surrounding Joko's potential candidacy and numerous surveys naming his the clear favorite, the party known as the PDI-P should not rush to declare its candidate just yet.

She said the PDI-P's decision to wait until after the April 9 legislative election to declare its candidate was a strategic one that could have been taken to minimize the potential for a smear campaign.

Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute, a think tank that advocates religious and democratic freedom, echoed the sentiment, saying that declaring Joko's candidacy before the legislative election might harm his chances.

He said that if the announcement was made too soon, it would give time to Joko's political opponents to track down his weaknesses and use them against him, especially because the governor has been under a lot of scrutiny over controversial policies in the capital since taking over City Hall in 2012. "Even without declaring Joko as its presidential candidate, the PDI-P's and Joko's electability keep increasing," he said.

However, Andrinof A. Chaniago, executive director of Cirus Surveyors Group, a pollster, said the question of Joko's nomination may have a great impact on voter turnout in the legislative polls, which in turn would determine whether the PDI-P would qualify to nominate a candidate for the July 9 presidential poll.

Andrinof said that if Joko was not nominated before the legislative election, the PDI-P might lose votes to other parties. He added the number of people who were currently likely not to vote stood at 1.8 percent of total registered voters, but without Joko in the polls, this number may increase up to 6.8 percent.

A survey by the Political Communication Institute (Polcomm), another pollster, showed that despite being a popular potential candidate, Joko would be a poor pick as a vice presidential candidate.

While the PDI-P continues to play its cards close to its chest, a senior party official claimed that it was edging toward officially nominating Joko. Komaruddin Watubun, a member of the party's central leadership board, said the idea to nominate Joko over party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri was already "out in the open."

He said Joko's candidacy would likely to be announced before the legislative election, which goes against repeated statements by party officials including Megawati that the PDI-P's presidential ticket will only be announced after the legislative vote count had been finalized.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/jakarta/delayed-nomination-gives-joko-edge-analysts-say/