Recent polls have found former governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa a frontrunner in the East Java gubernatorial election, but the campaign window remains open and his two rivals show no signs of conceding in a contest that relies on voters aligned with the influential Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama. (NUDE).

Most of the followers of the country’s largest Islamic organization are based in East Java, and experts say candidates affiliated with the group have a better chance of winning regional elections.

With more than 31 million registered voters, East Java will have the second largest regional election in the November polls. Therefore, the state’s governor’s seat is seen as a strategic position that provides possible entry into the national political scene.

All-female competition

Khofifah, whose term as governor ended in February, plans to seek re-election together with his deputy Democratic Party politician Emil Dardak.

Khofifah served as a member of the House of Representatives in the 1990s. He served as minister of social affairs in former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s first cabinet from 2014 to 2018, before ruling East Java for five years from 2019.

She is also no stranger to NU and chairs Muslimat NU, the group’s women’s wing, which has more than 30 million members.