Jakarta. Former Indonesian Military Chief General (ret.) Andika Perkasa has been appointed as the deputy chairman of the campaign team for Ganjar Pranowo's presidential bid.

His appointment was confirmed on Wednesday during a meeting of political party leaders from the Ganjar coalition.

Andika, who is also a potential running mate for Ganjar according to many polls, will be working alongside former deputy National Police Chief, Gatot Eddy Pramono.

The coalition had previously appointed Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Chairman Arsjad Rasjid as the head of the campaign.

"Today, we received updates about national politics, marking the beginning of our work," Andika told reporters after the meeting in Jakarta.

During an event in Bali the day before, Andika was asked about his chances of becoming Ganjar's running mate and replied: "I'm ready to take on any role now."

Andika is a close ally of President Joko Widodo, who appointed him as the commander of the Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) immediately upon winning the presidency in 2014.

He rose through the ranks to become the chief of staff of the Army for three years until November 2021 when the president appointed him as the chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, a position he held for 13 months until reaching retirement age.