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A new survey by Jakarta-based pollster the United Data Center (PDB) has found that Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is the potential candidate to beat in the 2014 presidential election.

PDB researcher Agus Herta Sumarto said that the electability rating of Jokowi now stood at 36 percent, ahead of his strongest rival Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, with 6.6 percent.

In the PDB’s earlier survey conducted in January 2013, Jokowi’s electability rating was only 1 percent higher than that of Prabowo.

Self-styled king of dangdut Rhoma Irama called on Muslims to vote for the National Awakening Party (PKB) so it could nominate a presidential candidate for 2014.

Rhoma, speaking in Garut, West Java, said that the PKB needed at least 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives, to nominate a presidential ticket.

Rhoma was at a gathering to introduce some of the party's prospective presidential candidates including himself.

Akbar Tandjung, former chairman of the Golkar Party (1998-2004) and former speaker of the House of Representatives (1999-2004) is the head of Golkar’s board of advisors. Believed to be one of the rare “king makers” in the country, his comments, particularly on the internal affairs of Golkar, have frequently drawn controversy and shaken up the party. The Jakarta Post’s Imanuddin Razak and a number of journalists spoke to Akbar about the latest political issues ahead of the 2014 general elections.

Question: Who do you think is the best candidate for the presidency?

Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo leaves an event in Ancol, North Jakarta, with Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Any talk of Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo joining another party’s presidential ticket in 2014 is groundless because of the hugely popular official’s strong loyalty to the country’s main opposition party, analysts said on Thursday.

Arya Fernandes, an analyst from Charta Politika, a think tank, said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was fully aware of Joko’s potential.

The government is worried that voter participation in the 2014 elections will decline as people are getting more and more pessimistic about the organization of elections in Indonesia.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the level of voter participation in the country’s five-yearly elections tended to decline. He said in average there was a 10 percent decline of voter participation in every election.

He said the rate of voter participation in the 2009 elections stood at 71 percent, down from 84.07 percent in 2004 and 92.74 percent in 1999.

The independent selection committee to shortlist presidential candidates for the Democratic Party interviewed more prospective candidates on Tuesday, including rector of Paramadina University Anies Baswedan; Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Speaker Irman Gusman; Democratic Party senior lawmaker Hayono Isman; and former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret) Endriartono Sutarto.

Anies was the first to show up for the interview on Tuesday. 

Lawmaker says a lack of clear criteria for a presidential candidate are causing problems

Marzuki Alie, the deputy chairman of the Democratic Party board of patrons, has criticized the party’s convention committee, saying it does not understand what the ruling party is seeking in its 2014 presidential candidate.

The lawmaker warned that he would reconsider taking part if committee members — tasked with nominating a presidential candidate — did not take their job seriously.

The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) said that the government should seriously consider implementing an electronic voting (e-voting) system for overseas voters to make it easier for them to cast their votes. 

Perludem executive director Titi Anggraini said on Thursday that the government had begun discussing an e-voting system in 2009 but it never came to fruition. She said that to begin with, the government could introduce the system to overseas voters.