Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated that Ganjar Pranowo, as a prospective presidential candidate from the PDI Perjuangan, is a leader who is close to the people.

"Mr Ganjar is a leader who is close to the people, always goes out to meet the people, and very ideological," Jokowi stated at the Batu Tulis Palace in Bogor, West Java, Friday.

At the 140th DPP Meeting Expanded by Three Pillars, PDI Perjuangan Chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri named Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo as the party's prospective presidential candidate for the 2024 election.

Jokowi said the process of electing the president and vice president in 2024 was drawing closer.

"Now is the time for the people to immediately know who the prospective presidential and vice-presidential candidates are, so that the people have adequate opportunity to evaluate and make their choice," Jokowi stated.

The president admitted to truly commending Megawati Soekarnoputri, as chairperson of PDI Perjuangan, who immediately announced the decision to make Ganjar Pranowo as the prospective presidential candidate.

"I want to emphasize that democratic national leadership succession is a must according to our (State of the Republic of Indonesia's 1945) Constitution, but a change in leadership must not divert the continuation of the Indonesian nation's struggle that must be continued from time to time," he explained.

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Earlier, on November 26, 2022, at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Main Stadium, Jakarta, while addressing thousands of people, Jokowi stated that a leader, who really thinks about the people, is one with physical characteristics, such as wrinkled facial expression and white hair.

Ganjar Pranowo is a white-haired politician.

The registration of prospective presidential and vice presidential candidates is scheduled from October 19 until November 25, 2023.

Based on Law Number 7 of 2017 on Elections (Election Law), the presidential and vice presidential pairs are proposed by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election that meet the requirements of obtaining at least 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) or obtaining 25 percent of the valid votes in national elections in the previous DPR members.

Currently, there are 575 seats in parliament, so the presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election must have the support of at least 115 seats in the DPR.

Candidate pairs can also be carried by political parties or a combination of political parties participating in the 2019 Election, with a minimum total of 34,992,703 valid votes.

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Translator: Desca Lidya Natalia, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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