Jakarta – Democratic Party patron and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is planning to hit the campaign trail for presidential contender Prabowo Subianto.

Prabowo announced Yudhoyono's intention following a meeting between the two retired generals at the latter's house on Wednesday. "[Yudhoyono] wants to be a campaigner," the Gerindra Party chairman said as quoted by kompas.com.

Prabowo added that Yudhoyono would be assuming a high-level position, saying "a godfather must be on top" as he referred to the Dems chairman as "my mentor" while laughing slightly.

Meanwhile, Yudhoyono's son Agus Harimurti is set to join the Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno campaign team as a member of the advisory board, he added.

The Dems, along with Gerindra, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), are backing the Prabowo-Sandiaga ticket in the 2019 election, challenging incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his running mate, Muslim cleric Ma'ruf Amin.

Democratic Party officials previously said Yudhoyono would be named Prabowo's special advisor while Agus would join the campaign team as a national campaigner and member of the steering committee.

During Wednesday's meeting, Prabowo, Sandiaga and Yudhoyono discussed the candidate pair's national campaign strategy. They agreed to focus on economic issues and plan to establish a team consisting of economic experts to handle them, Prabowo said. (afr/ahw)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/09/13/yudhoyono-to-hit-campaign-trail-for-prabowo.html