Jakarta – The Gerindra Party says its chairman, Prabowo Subianto, is ready to participate personally in campaign activities in Central Java's gubernatorial election next year.
"Just like in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, Pak Prabowo is ready to join activities in the field, reaching out to voters down to the neighbourhood unit [RT] level. This is the strategy for our candidates to win," said the party's Central Java executive board (DPD) chairman, Abdul Wachid, as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.
Pointing to the party's victory in the Jakarta election, Wachid said Gerindra was optimistic it could defeat the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) candidate pair in the province.
Wachid said elements of Gerindra's winning strategy in Jakarta, which saw Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno elected as governor and deputy governor, respectively, would be replicated in Central Java.
"Those strategies yielded extraordinary success in the Jakarta election. We won it with the efficient use of resources. Those strategies were attractive for the voters – strategies to win people's hearts."
Wachid said Prabowo was looking for candidates untainted by graft for the 2018 election in Central Java. "Pak Prabowo's message to all candidates is: 'Stay away from corruption, and please fight for the people," Wachid said. (ebf)