Jakarta. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, said on Saturday that the ruling party’s pick for a running mate for presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo will be announced in June.

PDI-P Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto said June was selected as the appropriate moment to deliver the big announcement because it coincides with the party’s “Bung Karno Month”, a month-long commemoration of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno, who was the father of PDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

During an event at the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) building in Jakarta, Hasto also said that Megawati has “a list of ten candidates for the running mate” but he declined to go into details.

"Madame Mega said that she has 10 names to pick from, therefore it’s going to take some time," Hasto said.

Political pundits have suggested several figures to team up with Ganjar, such as State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir, Chief Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud MD, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Muslim scholar Nasaruddin Umar, and Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno.

But Prabowo is likely to become a presidential candidate himself with the support of his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

The General Election Commission (KPU) requires all candidates to register themselves in October. Ganjar so far is the only firm candidate with formal backing from a political party.

Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has been nominated by the National Democratic Party or Nasdem, but the party needs to establish a coalition with two more parties to qualify the threshold before it can put Anies on the ballot.

The election law requires 20 percent of House of Representatives seats for a party or a coalition to nominate a candidate.

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