Yerica Lai, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) has reached out to Marzuki Mustamar, a prominent Muslim cleric and former East Java branch head of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), over potentially running in the province's gubernatorial election against its popular former governor, Khofifah Indar Parawansa.

According to a local party official, PKB East Java head Abdul Halim Iskandar, who is also an older brother of party chair Muhaimin Iskandar, had met with Marzuki to discuss several matters, among them the cleric possibly running for East Java governor in November's regional head elections.

"There were no gestures indicating that he rejected the PKB's aspirations," PKB East Java treasurer Fauzan Fuadi said on Tuesday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

The PKB has placed Marzuki on its list of prospective candidates to back for East Java governor, potentially pitting him against Khofifah, who temporarily left her role as the head of the NU women's wing Muslimat NU earlier this year to campaign for Prabowo Subianto.

Khofifah, along with her former deputy Emil Dardak, is making a reelection bid after her term ended in February.

The pair won early support from Prabowo's Gerindra Party, and recently secured the formal endorsement of three other parties in the incoming president's coalition: the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party.

PKB deputy secretary-general Syaiful Huda teased the possibility of pairing Marzuki with former Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as a joint ticket with the nationalist party to run against Gerindra's Khofifah-Emil ticket.

"I think Kyai [cleric] Marzuki and Ibu [Mrs.] Risma's pairing is interesting," Huda, who has been tasked with communicating to other parties and potential candidates regarding the simultaneous regional elections, said on Wednesday.

He added that the party's East Java branch had reached out to the PDI-P about the potential Marzuki-Risma pairing as an alternative in the event that the PDI-P failed to secure its own candidate as Khofifah's running mate, like it was considering.

The regional head elections slated for Nov. 27 will be the first time Indonesians vote simultaneously for governors, mayors and regents across 37 provinces, except Yogyakarta, and in more than 500 regencies and cities.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/06/19/pkb-eyeing-ex-nu-east-java-head-for-governor.htm