Jakarta – The Gerindra Party, the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have agreed to throw their support behind Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) chief Lt. Gen. Edy Rahmayadi in his bid for the post of North Sumatra governor next year.
The three parties have also endorsed Musa Rajekshah, a figure famous among the youth in the province, as Edy's running mate, kompas.com reported.
PAN secretary-general Eddy Soeparno said that the decision was made during a meeting between Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto, PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan and PKS chairman Sohibul Iman on Sunday.
The three-party alliance controls a total of 32 councillor seats in North Sumatra, which is enough to field a gubernatorial ticket.
PKS and Gerindra are among the opposition parties in national politics; while PAN is a pro-government party.
The three-star general, according to Soeparno, will resign from his military post after he officially registers his candidacy at the General Elections Commission (KPU) in January. "Upon submitting [his application with the KPU], [he] will resign," Soeparno said.
Edy was previously set to be assigned to another post at the Army headquarters ahead of his planned early retirement, in a decision made under former TNI commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo. However, Gatot's successor, TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, canceled the rotation. (afr/ipa)