Other presidential candidates select their running mates with two things in mind: fulfilling the party support requirement to run as a presidential candidate, and beating SBY. SBY is unique since he is very popular, and already has the party support needed to run as a candidate.
In selecting his running mate, SBY probably had two considerations in mind: sustaining, not increasing, his popularity; and creating an effective governing team for the next five years.
In the last several weeks five other names emerged as potential vice presidential candidates for SBY aside from Boediono: Hatta Radjasa, from PAN; Hidayat Nur Wahid, from PKS; Aburizal Bakrie, from Golkar; Sri Mulyani, the current finance minister; and Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the director of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR).
Among the five, Boediono presents the fewest problems. Kuntoro lacks public exposure. PKS, the second largest party in SBY’s coalition, will certainly protest about the non-selection of Hatta Radjasa. Hidayat, with his PKS identity, and Aburizal, with his unresolved mud problem in East Java, had the potential to corrode SBY’s popularity.
Most of the public still consider PKS an extreme rightist political party. Bakrie’s failure to resolve the mud disaster in East Java, despite being one of Indonesia’s richest men, would have made SBY vulnerable as being the patron of the rich.
Moreover, choosing a running mate with strong political party roots risked creating a strong and popular figure in 2014 who might defeat SBY’s successor, whoever that might be.
SBY and his closest advisors were hesitant to pick Mulyani, given the similarity of her character to that of Jusuf Kalla. The experience of having another energetic, aggressive, and active – if more policy congenial – vice president would not have been easy to handle.
Boediono was the safe choice for SBY. His success in helping to manage the economy in time of economic crisis, his support for the government’s ‘populist’ policies, his low profile character, his clean public image, and his lack of either business or future political ambitions made him a political asset for SBY, without liability or risk.
Boediono has the economic credentials to help SBY manage the economic challenges of the next five years, as well as the political connections and experience to help form a stable and cooperative government. Hal Hill once said that when Boediono was the finance minister under Megawati, he was successful in promoting the idea of budget prudence to politicians; that will be a highly prized asset over the coming years.
The story goes that the certainty of Boediono’s nomination as SBY’s running mate emerged only after SBY’s close advisor, Hatta Radjasa, met with PDI-P for the second time.
Boediono is known for his good relationship with Megawati, and Megawati is fond of him because he is respectful to her. Before he took the job as the Governor of the Central Bank, Boediono, it is said, went to seek Megawati’s blessing. Although SBY will be competing with Megawati in the coming presidential election, picking Boediono certainly secures PDI-P’s cooperation in the aftermath of the election.
Boediono is clearly the right choice for the job, unlikely though the choice may have seemed. Some label him a ‘neo-liberal’. That might appear to be a political burden for SBY. The latest polls suggest otherwise. The May poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute puts the SBY-B team way ahead, with popularity reaching up to 70 per cent.
A safe and prudent choice indeed!