Joko Widodo’s VP selection shows Indonesian president needs to enhance nationalist and religious bona fides before election
Widodo beat Subianto at the last election but his popularity slumped mid-campaign after false reports spread online that he was a Christian and ethnically Chinese
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, brandished his nationalist and religious credentials on Friday amid reports he had come under pressure from Islamic party allies to accept a conservative cleric as running mate in next year’s election.
In a last-minute decision, Widodo announced on Thursday Ma’ruf Amin, who heads the board of advisers of the country’s biggest mass Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), would be his vice-presidential candidate for April’s poll.
The duo will be challenged by the former general Prabowo Subianto and the private equity tycoon and Jakarta deputy governor Sandiaga Uno.
Wearing a crisp white shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Clean. With the people. Real work.” Widodo told supporters on Friday he would “safeguard national resources”.
He cited as evidence recent policy decisions to nationalise oil and gas assets and seize majority ownership of the huge Grasberg gold and copper mine from the US based Freeport-McMoran.