As no single Indonesian political party was able to secure 25 percent of the vote in the legislative election (which was held on 9 April 2014), parties need to form a coalition to meet the 25 percent threshold in order to be allowed to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate (both run as a fixed inseparable pair) who will join the presidential election on 9 July 2014.

In the last couple of days things have become more clear. First of all, the coalition PDI-P, NasDem, and PKB was officially declared earlier this week. This coalition supports highly popular jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as its presidential candidate. However, his running mate remains a question mark.

Gerindra - the political vehicle of Prabowo Subianto - forms a coalition with the Islamic parties PAN, PPP, and PKS. Subianto, the second most popular presidential candidate according to most popularity surveys, is the coalition's presidential candidate. Chairman of the PAN, Hatta Rajasa, will be his running mate. Earlier this week, Rajasa stepped down from his post as Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs to focus on his bid for vice-president.

Previously, it was reported that Golkar had several meetings with Gerindra and the PDI-P to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition with one of these parties. However, today (17/05), news spread that Golkar and PD (the party of Indonesian President Yudhoyono) will form a coalition. Indonesian newspaper Kompas quoted Indonesian Industry Minister MS Hidayat saying "on Friday evening (16/05) it was proposed that Golkar and PD will form a coalition which will back Aburizal Bakrie and Pramono Edhie Wibowo as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates. However, both parties still need to discuss the matter internally."


Indonesian Legislative Election 2014:

       Percentage      Absolute
 PDI-P         18.95%     23,681,471
 Golkar         14.75%     18,432,312
 Gerindra         11.81%     14,760,371
 PD         10.19%     12,728,913
 PKB          9.04%     11,298,957
 PAN          7.59%      9.481.621
 PKS          6.79%      8,480,204
 NasDem          6.72%      8,402,812
 PPP          6.53%      8,157,488
 Hanura          5.26%      6,579,498
 PBB          1.46%      1,825,750
 PKPI          0.91%      1,143,094


Further Reading:

Indonesia Election Update: Golkar and PDI-P Move Step Closer to Coalition
Indonesia Presidential Election Update: Jokowi-Kalla versus Prabowo-Hatta?
PDI-P Declares Coalition & Jokowi's Candidacy; Rupiah and Stocks Surge
Indonesian Politics: the Presidential Candidates' Running Mates
Official Result of the Indonesian Legislative Election 2014 Released
Joko Widodo Expected to Announce Running Mate for Indonesian Elections
Golkar-Gerindra Coalition's President: Aburizal Bakrie or Prabowo Subianto?
Indonesian Politics Update: PKB Approaches PDI-P to Form Coalition
Parliamentary Election in Indonesia; Overview of Popular Political Parties
Indonesian Politics
• 
Analysis of Quick Count Results of the Indonesian Legislative Election 2014
Can Joko Widodo Accelerate the Democratization Process in Indonesia?
Indonesia’s 2014 Presidential Candidates; a Profile of Aburizal Bakrie
Towards Indonesia's Presidential Elections: a Profile of Prabowo Subianto
The Tough Road of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party towards the 2014 Elections

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