Thousands of Regional Head Candidates Register through the Democratic Party

Chairman of the Democratic Party, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, when met at the Central Leadership Council (DPP) office, Wednesday (24/4/2024), said that the selection of regional head candidates would still be discussed again. Later. According to him, he is still calculating all aspects, such as surveys of the candidate's popularity and electability. Apart from that, support from other parties.

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"We are discussing it with the Indonesia Maju Coalition (KIM) members for sure. We see the potential together with our friends in KIM," said Agus.

When asked whether the Democratic Party will nominate Ridwan Kamil for the Jakarta Special Region (DKJ) Regional Election, Agus mentioned that it has not been decided yet within the party's internal discussion.

"No, not yet," he answered briefly.

External cadres and uncomplicated requirements

The Head of the Democratic Party's Strategic Communication Agency, Herzaky Mahendra Putra, added that based on the data that has been received, on average, each region has four potential candidates for regional head who have started to register. Interestingly, these registrants are predominantly made up of external cadres. These external cadres come from retired civil servants (ASN), retired TNI/Polri, and even cadres from other parties.

"If we look closely at the existing data, on average there are more registrants from external elements," he explained.

According to him, this is because the criteria applied by the Democrats are not complicated. Because, Democrats do not want to burden prospective candidates. One of the conditions is that the candidate is popular and close to the people. However, the party will prioritize main or internal cadres.

"Internal cadres will be prioritized, but we will also be realistic. "Opportunities are open to all candidates who register," he said.

He added that the Democratic selection process was bottom up or bottom up starting from cadres at the Branch Leadership Council (DPC), district/city level, up to the provincial level. The provincial leadership then submitted the proposal to the Democratic Party's Election Winning Body (Bapilu).

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"The Pilkada Special Task Force discusses the input and data of potential candidates intensively. The input is then brought to the central level as input for further steps. After that, all explorations continue," he explained.

He also said that in the simultaneous regional elections, the Democrats also wanted to win big. Because, the best way to serve society is through regional and national leadership. Regional elite circulation can have a broad effect on society so that it can be used as preparation for the 2029 election contest.