APSN | Aburizal Bakrie to run with Pramono Edhie in Golkar-Democrat coalition

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Aburizal Bakrie to run with Pramono Edhie in Golkar-Democrat coalition

Jakarta Globe - May 17, 2014

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Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman and presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie on Friday night entered into a deal to name as his running mate Democratic former army chief Pramono Edhie Wibowo – current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law.

"Last night, there was a new coalition established which will support A.R.B. of the Golkar Party as presidential candidate and Pramono Edhie Wibowo of the Democratic Party as the vice president," Industry Minister and senior Golkar official Mohamad S. Hidayat said on Saturday, as quoted by Kompas.

The announcement was timed oddly for both parties: Bakrie on Tuesday announced support for Jakarta Governor and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate Joko Widodo, and the Democrats just yesterday named as their nominee State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan.

As of Saturday morning, party leaders had not said why they named Pramono rather than Dahlan, despite his convention victory. Dahlan had not yet stepped down from his ministerial post by the May 14 deadline to do so – a requirement for election contestants – which might have threatened his eligibility.

The parties reached the deal, Hidayat said, in a closed, backroom meeting with Golkar deputy chairman Agung Laksono, party secretary general Idrus Marham and Hidayat himself representing the Bakrie campaign and Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Syarief Hasan, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik and Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono, the president's son, representing the Democrats.

Bakrie and Yudhoyono also discussed the decision, which was set to be formalized on Sunday after meetings between both parties' national leaders. The coalition was the third to form in the run up to the July 9 presidential election.

Former Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), resigned last week in order to run alongside Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party founder and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

The PDI-P has named the National Democratic Party (NasDem) and National Awakening Party (PKB) as coalition partners, but Joko, widely considered the election frontrunner, has not yet named a running mate.

Today's announcement could result in two rounds of elections: If none of the three coalitions secure more than 50 percent of the vote on July 9, the two most popular coalitions would then face off again on Sept. 9.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/aburizal-bakrie-run-pramono-edhie-golkar-democrat-coalition/.