REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The presidential candidate for the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Joko Widodo (popular as Jokowi) stated that he must pick vice presidential candidate carefully because it concern the fate of the nation and state. 

"The decision must be made and calculated carefully as this is not only a matter of Jokowi, PDIP or Nasdem but it has to do with the fate of nation and state," he asserted at the Jakarta City Hall on Monday when asked about his possible running mate.

Jokowi who is also Jakarta governor explained with regard to his running mate that he could either potentially be a civilian, a military or a politician, but he declined to mention names.

"The three potential candidates could be civilian, military member or politician. I cannot as yet mention any name because we still have a month to decide. So, we must not hurry," he clarified.

Jokowi noted on Sunday that the list of potential vice presidential candidates to accompany him in the run for president in the upcoming election on July 9, had already been shortened from five to three. He added that PDIP's general chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, along with the General Chairman of the National Democrat Party (Nasdem), Surya Paloh, would take part in deciding the PDIP's vice presidential candidate.

PDIP and Nasdem have agreed to cooperate to meet the next presidential election. PDIP was the winner of the legislative elections on April garnering around 19 percent of votes according to unofficial counts, followed by Golkar Party in the second place and Gerindra in the third place.

PDIP's vote collection however, is still far below the presidential threshold set at 25 percent of national votes and therefore the party has to cooperate with other parties to meet it in order to be able to ensure its presidential nominee, Jokowi.

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