Jakarta – The daughter of incumbent Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, Siti Nur Azizah, has issued a public endorsement of the presidential bid of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo.
Nur Azizah delivered the endorsement during a campaign event staged by Ganjar's team in Central Jakarta on Wednesday night.
"I am really happy tonight. By the grace of God we can gather tonight in good spirit to bring victory to the Ganjar-Mahfud ticket," Nur Azizah was quoted by Antara as saying.
She said that Ganjar and his running mate senior security minister Mahfud MD both had the integrity and capacity to lead the country in the next five years.
Mahfud was tapped in 2019 as a running mate for the incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who was then running for a second term in office.
Mahfud was dropped in a last-minute decision and at the suggestion of PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri then Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'ruf was picked in an attempt to shore up the support of millions of Muslim voters.
In recent weeks, Ma'ruf has made statements critical of supporters of Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto for their antics on the campaign trail.
Responding to a statement from Trade Minister Zulkifli Hassan, who joked about Muslims in Indonesia modifying their praying rituals to show support for Prabowo, Ma'ruf considered the statement "childish".
In a speech delivered in Semarang, Central Java, Zulkifli said that out of their love for Prabowo, Muslims who pray now did not want to utter the word "Amin" because the expression was being used by the campaign team of former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as its campaign slogan.
"This is a childish statement. 'Amin' doesn't refer to a presidential ticket. The word has existed for a long time," the Vice President said.