Indonesia 2024: Favorite Ganjar Crowned Ruling PDI-P's Presidential Candidate As Polls Narrow

On Friday evening, Megawati Sukarnoputri – the former-President and leader of the ruling PDI-P party – announced Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo as the PDIP's candidate for the upcoming 2024 Indonesian elections.

The announcement confirmed the expectations of most Indonesia-watchers, with Ganjar having topped the majority of national opinion polls over the past six months.

Yet the numbers have tightened markedly in recent weeks after Ganjar attracted criticism for his position on Indonesia's then hosting of the Under-20 World Cup. He now finds himself neck and neck with Defence Minister and Gerindra party leader Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo was the defeated Presidential candidate in the last two elections (2014 and 2019) – beaten both times by the current incumbent President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo.

Next year's race, however, is expected to be tight and this makes both men's prospective running mates of great importance.

Having been thrust into the spotlight during the Under-20 debacle, Erick Thohir, the President of Indonesia's FA (PSSI) and the Minister of State Owned Enterprises (BUMN), is seen as a strong contender to join the PDI-P ticket.

Similarly to Ganjar, Thohir is a close ally of President Jokowi and aligns with the PDI-P's nationalist tradition. He has also leveraged BUMN to advance the party's commitment to widespread economic opportunity.

Thohir's campaign experience (he ran Jokowi's 2019 election effort) and international profile as PSSI President will likewise be highly desirable for Ganjar.
The PDI-P's Puan Maharani, Megawati's youngest child, has also been touted as a potential VP pick for Ganjar.

She boasts a varied CV, having served as the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs between 2014 and 2019 before taking on the Speakership of the House of Representatives in 2019.

Puan is the first female to serve in this position – following in her mother's footsteps as a standard bearer for gender equality in Indonesian society.

Looking ahead to the race itself, Ganjar and Prabowo's priority will be to convince voters that they have the right team to continue President Jokowi's popular economic agenda.
Infrastructure development and upgrading Indonesia's domestic advanced manufacturing capabilities ('downstreaming') have served as the central planks of the Jokowi Presidency.
Both are recognised to have ensured that economic growth keeps pace and that the archipelago nation can derive as much value as possible from its natural resources – rather than selling them directly to multinational businesses.

Polling shows that Indonesians have bought into this strategy. They expect, therefore, that a post-Jokowi leadership team will maintain the influx of international investment into Indonesia but on the country's terms.