Mahfud Md Rejects Offer to Become Anies Baswedan’s Vice Presidential Candidate

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud Md said he had been offered a vice presidential or vice presidential candidate for Anies Baswedan. The offer, said Mahfud, was offered by PKS President Ahmad Syaikhu during a visit to his house.

“They asked, Mr. Mahfud was willing No? NoI said,” said Mahfud at the State Palace area, Central Jakarta, Monday, June 5, 2023.

Mahfud admitted that he rejected Anies Baswedan’s offer to become Anies Baswedan’s vice presidential candidate because he was worried that the Coalition for Change, driven by the NasDem Party, PKS, and Democrats, would disband if he entered. According to Mahfud, the three parties have their own cadres that can be paired with Anies.

“Later, if I invite you there, I will actually destroy democracy. If one leaves because you invite me, it will be damaged (the Change Coalition),” said Mahfud, repeating his statement to Syaikhu.

Mahfud said that one out of three members of the Coalition for Change would not agree

He predicted that one in three members of the Coalition for Change would disagree if he entered. So that the coalition does not break up and create Anies Baswedan failed to become a presidential candidate, Mahfud chose to reject the offer.

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“Therefore, I asked Mr. (Syaikhu) to take care of the coalition. I said that to the chairman of the PKS, take care of the coalition, don’t invite me inside so the coalition doesn’t break up,” said Mahfud.

The PKS meeting with Mahfud was held in mid-April 2023. At that time, Syaikhu admitted that he was on a safari with a number of figures in order to find a vice presidential candidate to accompany Anies Baswedan.

“In particular, these days I have a lot of friendly relations with national figures in order to find out who is Pak Anies Rasyid Baswedan’s partner,” said Syaikhu at the PKS DPP, Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

Anies’ vice presidential candidate is said to be surprising

Until now, the cawapres who will accompany Anies Baswedan in 2024 presidential election not specified. Most recently, Democratic Party Spokesperson Herzaky Mahendra said Anies Baswedan had already made his choice of vice presidential candidate. According to Herzaky, the presidential-cawapres pair that is being promoted by the Coalition for Change will certainly surprise the other coalitions.

“This pair will really surprise other coalitions and presidential candidates. Because this is what the people have been waiting for,” Herzaky said in his statement, Sunday, June 4, 2023.

He said that Anies would soon announce his running mate and was certain to be the best partner to advance to the 2024 presidential election. Herzaky emphasized that the partner offered by the Coalition for Change would bring a spirit of change and fight for change for Indonesia.

Regarding whether the cawapres who will accompany Anies is Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY), Herzaky does not want to divulge it. He said it would be Anies who would announce the name of his cawapres.

“It’s not the time to announce it yet. We’ll just have to wait when Mas Anies will announce it,” said Herzaky. “We have to be careful. Even without being announced earlier, there have been many attempts to cut things off. We have failed. Rumors have spread that we are not solid, not compact, and so on.”

Apart from AHY, a number of other names were mentioned as vice presidential candidates who would accompany Anies Baswedan. They include East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno and Former Governor of West Java Ahmad Heryawan.