Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD has officially become Ganjar Pranowo's running mate for the 2024 General Election. This was announced directly by the Chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"Today, Wednesday, October 18, 2023, with firm conviction, I have made a decision, I dedicate it wholeheartedly for the best interests of the people, nation, and state. With the utterance of *bismillahirrahmanirrahim*, the vice-presidential candidate chosen by the PDIP to accompany Ganjar Pranowo is Prof. Dr. Mahfud MD," said Megawati, as reported by *Antara*, Wednesday (18/10/2023).
The Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD pairing is supported by four political parties, namely the PDIP, the United Development Party (PPP), the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), and the Indonesian Unity Party (Perindo).
According to the Executive Director of Indostrategic, Ahmad Khoirul Umam, Mahfud MD can provide additional strength to his political partners.
"The determination of Mahfud MD as Ganjar Pranowo's running mate will strengthen the PDIP's political machinery and the presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo," said Ahmad, as reported by *Antara*, Wednesday (18/10/2023).
"The figure of Mahfud MD represents the political strength of Nahdliyyin," he added.
Ahmad also assessed that Mahfud MD has experience in carrying out state duties in all branches of power, both in the executive branch as a minister, the legislative branch as a member of the DPR (House of Representatives), and the judiciary as the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).
"This wealth of experience can strengthen the narrative, arguments, and policy choices in debates on the vision, mission, and platform of future governance, where swing voters from the educated middle class are quite influenced by the quality of arguments from the contestants," said Ahmad.
Despite his extensive experience, Mahfud MD's electability as a vice-presidential candidate seems quite low, judging from the report by Poltracking Indonesia.
From September 3-9, 2023, Poltracking conducted a survey on the electability of 11 prospective vice-presidential candidates.
The survey was conducted on 1,220 respondents spread nationally, using a multistage random sampling method and face-to-face interviews.
The results showed that the majority, or 18.6% of respondents, chose Erick Thohir as vice president.
Meanwhile, Mahfud MD was far below Erick Thohir, ranking seventh with 6.6% of respondent votes.
Mahfud MD's electability even fell behind Gibran Rakabuming Raka, President Jokowi's son who is rumored to be Prabowo Subianto's running mate, as seen in the graph.
This Poltracking survey has a margin of error of 2.9% with a 95% confidence level.