Rifts within the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) following its poorer than expected election results in Wednesday’s parliamentary election could weaken the party’s hand in seeking allies and also hurt Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s bid to win the July 9 presidential election.

Although PDI-P was the top performer in the election, its 19 per cent share of the popular vote, according to early vote counts, was well below the 27 to 30 per cent it had hoped to win.

More importantly, the failure to get past the threshold of 25 per cent of the national vote would mean it cannot nominate its own candidates for President or Vice-President without forming a coalition with another party. It could still nominate Mr Widodo without the help of another party if it manages to win at least 20 per cent of the 560 parliamentary seats when official results are announced in early May.

… PDI-P could also need to name a vice-presidential candidate also acceptable to Muslim parties, some of which “have had a historical dislike for the PDI-P that is viewed as secular and pro-Christian”, said Dr Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman, Assistant Professor at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.