WHO WILL BE JOKOWI'S RUNNING MATE, KALLA OR SAMAD?

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, May 12 (Antara) - The Indonesian people are now waiting for PDIP's decision to name the running mate of its presidential candidate Joko Widodo for the upcoming July 9 presidential elections.          Jakarta governor Joko Widodo --popularly known as Jokowi who is believed to have the biggest chance to win the next presidential elections-- is expected to announce the name of his running mate this week.          Many names have been mentioned so far but now the names to be selected by the Indonesian Democratic Part of Struggle (PDIP), have narrowed to two: former vice president Jusuf Kalla and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Abraham Samad.          "Jokowi's running mate will be announced between May 10 and May 18. He is among those often mentioned by the media," PDIP Deputy Secretary General Hasto Kristianto said in Denpasar, Bali, on Friday.          He even made it clear that there were actually two contenders, namely Jusuf Kalla or Abraham Samad,  as would-be Jokowi's running mate," he said.          "Both of them have the same credibility and capability in their respective fields. Let's wait and see who among them will be picked by Jakowi and Megawati Soekarnoputri," he added.          But who is the likeliest winning contender among the two? According to political observer Said Salahuddin of the University of Indonesia (UI),  Jokowi, is inclined to name Jusuf Kalla (JK) as his running mate if compared with Abraham Samad.          "JK has political team which is intensively lobbying Megawati Soekarnoputri (PDIP chairperson),"  Said Salahuddin pointed out.          Salahuddin argued that PDIP's coalition partners such as the National Democratic Party (NasDem) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) seemed to prefer JK to Samad.          "Moreover, in term of funds, JK is seen more financially prepared. JK has more money than Samad. He is a prominent businessman who is supported by many conglomerates. Meanwhile, Samad who is honest and lives simple life, is not preferred by many conglomerates," he asserted.          Salahuddin added that the financial capability of JK also seemed to be a factor of preference being considered by PDIP.          "Of course, they (PDIP) are also realistic about the fact that the presidential race will need a huge amount of operational funds," the UI political analyst elaborated.          The small opportunity for Samad to run with Jokowi could also be measured with political experience.  "JK is a Golkar Party leader. His party is the second largest winner of last April 9 legislative elections and has many seats in the Parliament. Of course, PDIP will take into account these 'assets' owned by JK and Golkar," Salahuddin stressed.  Samad meanwhile has no real political support.          Golkar was ranked second in the April 9, 2014 legislative elections winning 14.75 percent of the votes after PDIP which was ranked first with a 18.95 percent voter turnout.          Political analyst from Pelita Harapan University Embrus Sihombing also shared the same view saying that Jusuf Kalla is the perfect vice presidential candidate for Jokowi.          "Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla are coming from different generation, but both can complement each other if they run the government. They can form a strong, fast, firm and responsive government," Embrus said in a discussion forum titled 'Possible Political Coalition for Presidential Election 2014," recently.          He said, when solving conflict, both Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla always conducted persuasive approach. Such attitude can help reduce disintegration threat in Indonesia. "Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla could unite Indonesia especially people living in Java island and those living outside Java," Embrus added.          According to Embrus, Jokowi who is relatively young at age has little experience in leadership if compared to Jusuf Kalla who was a senior politician from Golkar party and was once vice president of Indonesia in the period of 2004-2009. Embrus also said Jusuf Kalla's experience in international relations can also help Jokowi when dealing with foreign partners of Indonesia.          In the meantime, Yunarto Wijaya of the Charta Politika said it would be ideal for Jokowi to run with Abraham Samad as they could represent figures of high integrity and cleanliness.         "I see that Jokowi and Samad as positive figures as they represent clean and high integrity leaders. They both have no dark sides in their past life which could tarnish their reputation," said Yunarto last week.          "I see that Samad has high integrity. It is impossible for him to be named KPK chief if he is not clean. It is unlike Kalla, who is a businessman," he said.          Rector of Semarang State University Fathur Rohman said a Jokowi-Samad pair is quite good which would be able to run the government free from political transactions but with professionalism. All will maximize the democratic process.          However, political scientist Siti Zuhro of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)  suggested that Samad should not leave his post as the KPK chief. She said that Abraham Samad had better refuse any vice presidential candidacy offer from political parties because he has not yet accomplished his task as KPK chairman.          "He has not yet finished his tasks as the KPK chairman," Siti Zuhro  stated  on Monday.          She said Samad was needed by the state in his position and function as the KPK chairman, particularly in the face of the current condition of awful corruption issues.          "If he leaves his present position and runs as a vice presidential candidate, he will set a bad example," she pointed out.          Siti Zuhro suggested that public officials should understand the ethics and had commitment to carrying out their tasks with full of responsibility until they finish their terms of office.          "If Abraham Samad accepts an offer as a vice presidential candidate from a political party, it will leave the impression that public officials were more inclined to 'jump over the fences'," the LIPI political scientist said.           She said that Samad should have given response to reports over vice presidential candidacy offers to send message that he was closing chances for such an offer.           "He should have given clear response and reject offers so that it would not leave the impression he stays open for such a chance," she added.***1*** (T.A014/a014) (T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 12-05-2014 23:5