Another Top Democrat Breaks Party Line on Presidential Pick

Jakarta. Despite the Democratic Party’s official support for presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, several top party officials have said they are backing their rivals, Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla.

Hayono Isman, a member of Democrats’ advisory council and one of the participants in the ruling party’s presidential convention, announced his intention to break ranks on Tuesday.

“I, Hayono Isman, along with my wife and my children declare our support for Jokowi-JK,” he said on Tuesday, referring to the candidates by their nicknames, as reported by newsportal Liputan6.com.

Hayono, a serving member of the House of Representatives, said he supported the pair because he believed in their integrity and good track records.

“There are four reasons why I support them. They are both genuine, honest, free from human rights abuse issues and corruption, and last but not least they are married. Those are four reasons that easily can be accepted by public,” he said.

Prabowo married former President Suharto’s daughter Titiek but the couple got divorced after the strongman’s downfall in 1998.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party had announced on Monday its formal support for Prabowo and Hatta. Yudhoyono had previously stated that the party would remain neutral in the presidential election.

Earlier, Democratic Party politician and Yudhoyono loyalist Ruhut Sitompul had already declared his support for Joko and Kalla. Another senior Democrat, Nova Riyanti Yusuf, was allegedly relieved of her post as deputy head of the House of Representatives’ Commission IX in June because she refused to support the Prabowo-Hatta pair.

Max Sopacua, deputy chairman of the party, said that sanctions would be imposed on Hayono and Nova after the presidential election.

“Regarding sanctions, we will take care of them after the presidential election. At the moment we are concentrating on mobilizing the party to help Prabowo-Hatta win,” Max was quoted as saying by Detik.com.

Other senior Democrats in the Joko-Kalla camp are State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan and Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan.

By Jakarta Globe on 10:44 pm Jul 02, 2014