Upon observing coalition agreements made by the leaders of political parties, the upcoming presidential election, scheduled for July 8, will very likely be a three-horse race. But are the three presidential candidates and their running mates really who the Indonesian public want to see contesting?
The three presidential candidates are incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ,who has yet to announce a running mate, incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who will partner with Wiranto, and the camp led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who will most likely partner with Prabowo Subianto.
A good point in observing the presidential candidacy is the fact that the election will not be a one-man show, as had been feared previously by many. Eligible Indonesian voters will be given the opportunity and liberty to choose among the three available candidate pairs.
The question is, however, whether the three candidates - and their potential running mates - truly represent the interests and expectations of voters.
It has been interesting but also discouraging to monitor the maneuvers made by the candidates and to see who they have chosen as partners to contest the election.
The reasons provided by Jusuf Kalla for his choice of Wiranto as his running mate are trivial and difficult to accept in this era of modern leadership and management principles.
Kalla's argument that Wiranto was the perfect match Wiranto is a Javanese, which would complement Kalla who is non-Javanese; Wiranto has a military background, whereas Kalla has a civilian and business background, were understandable and could have benefited Kalla if he had run for the presidency during the New Order era, when the Java/non-Java and civilian/military dichotomies were prevalent. However, these days such traditional grounds should not be the key and determining factors any more, but shared interests and ideology.
Similar reasons would likely be adopted by Megawati in picking Prabowo as her running mate. It is true Megawati and Prabowo have yet to agree on the final combination of their partnership - whether Megawati will be the presidential candidate and Prabowo the vice presidential candidate, or if Prabowo will be the presidential candidate and a senior official from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle /PDIP will be Prabowo's running mate.
However, one thing is certain: Megawati and Kalla's choices of running mates for the July 8 election were both made with the same goal - to beat Yudhoyono.
Yudhoyono, whose Democratic Party will very likely top the April 9 legislative election tally, has been relatively quiet and passive in maneuvering to establish a coalition ahead of the presidential election. However, the fact that there are only Islamic parties for it to form a coalition with is no advantage for PD, a centrist party.
The three presidential candidates and their partners are already on the election menu. They have the constitutional right to contest the election, but in the end it is the Indonesian voters or to be more precise the eventual voter turnout that will decide whether one of them will be triumphant enough to be declared the winner.
The three presidential candidates are incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ,who has yet to announce a running mate, incumbent Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who will partner with Wiranto, and the camp led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who will most likely partner with Prabowo Subianto.
A good point in observing the presidential candidacy is the fact that the election will not be a one-man show, as had been feared previously by many. Eligible Indonesian voters will be given the opportunity and liberty to choose among the three available candidate pairs.
The question is, however, whether the three candidates - and their potential running mates - truly represent the interests and expectations of voters.
It has been interesting but also discouraging to monitor the maneuvers made by the candidates and to see who they have chosen as partners to contest the election.
The reasons provided by Jusuf Kalla for his choice of Wiranto as his running mate are trivial and difficult to accept in this era of modern leadership and management principles.
Kalla's argument that Wiranto was the perfect match Wiranto is a Javanese, which would complement Kalla who is non-Javanese; Wiranto has a military background, whereas Kalla has a civilian and business background, were understandable and could have benefited Kalla if he had run for the presidency during the New Order era, when the Java/non-Java and civilian/military dichotomies were prevalent. However, these days such traditional grounds should not be the key and determining factors any more, but shared interests and ideology.
Similar reasons would likely be adopted by Megawati in picking Prabowo as her running mate. It is true Megawati and Prabowo have yet to agree on the final combination of their partnership - whether Megawati will be the presidential candidate and Prabowo the vice presidential candidate, or if Prabowo will be the presidential candidate and a senior official from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle /PDIP will be Prabowo's running mate.
However, one thing is certain: Megawati and Kalla's choices of running mates for the July 8 election were both made with the same goal - to beat Yudhoyono.
Yudhoyono, whose Democratic Party will very likely top the April 9 legislative election tally, has been relatively quiet and passive in maneuvering to establish a coalition ahead of the presidential election. However, the fact that there are only Islamic parties for it to form a coalition with is no advantage for PD, a centrist party.
The three presidential candidates and their partners are already on the election menu. They have the constitutional right to contest the election, but in the end it is the Indonesian voters or to be more precise the eventual voter turnout that will decide whether one of them will be triumphant enough to be declared the winner.
