Solo. The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) has begun efforts to gather support from other parties in an attempt to win the mayoral election in Solo, a key stronghold of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The Central Java city is currently led by Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who will be installed as vice president in October alongside future President Prabowo Subianto, the founder and chairman of Gerindra.

Gibran’s participation in the presidential election marked his departure from PDI-P and triggered a new rivalry between PDI-P and Gerindra.

Ardianto Kuswinarno, chairman of Gerindra’s Solo chapter, did not deny the effort to establish a “grand coalition” against PDI-P.

"God willing, our friends in the coalition are ready to face PDI-P, which always prefers to go on its own,” Ardianto said on Monday, a day after he organized a meeting with representatives from seven parties.

Those parties have failed to win a seat in the Solo Legislative Council, but Ardianto said he believes they all have unique support bases that could determine the outcome of the November 27 election.

“The meeting was purely my initiative to gather friends who don’t have seats in the city council to discuss the upcoming mayoral election. I believe they all have their own voter base in Solo,” Ardianto said.

The next step is to establish a coalition with incumbent parties, he added.

The Golkar Party has already nominated Sekar Tandjung for the mayoral election. Sekar chairs the party’s Solo chapter and is the daughter of former House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Sekar has also registered with Gerindra along with three other potential candidates: Surakarta University Chancellor Astrid Widayani, business executive Diah Warih Anjari, and National Mandate Party (PAN) politician Heru Cipto Nugroho. Heru apparently seeks nomination as the vice-mayoral candidate.

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