Former general takes on President Widodo in Indonesia's presidential race

JAKARTA, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Indonesia's leading opposition party Prabowo Subianto declared on Wednesday to run in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election, taking on the incumbent candidate President Joko Widodo.

The Indonesian main opposition Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) party nominated Prabowo as its presidential candidate in the party's national convention held in Prabowo's residence in Bogor, West Java on Wednesday.

"If the Gerindra party orders me to run in the upcoming presidential election, I'm ready to carry out that task," Prabowo said in his remarks in the convention.

Prabowo lost his chance to seize the nation's presidency after Joko Widodo secured 53 percent votes in the 2014 election.

The former general who once commanded Indonesian army's special force of Kopassus was recommended to run again in the presidential election by the party's regional executives as well as its cadres sitting in regional and central parliaments, Gerindra Party Secretary General Ahmad Muzani said.

Muzani added that the party also gives a full mandate to Prabowo to establish a coalition with other political parties and choose his running mate as the vice president candidate to run in the presidential election slated for April next year.

Prabowo became the first incumbent president's challenger in 2019 presidential race as the nomination process would end in August.

President Widodo has been endorsed by the ruling party Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and four other political parties to compete for his second presidential term until 2024. Enditem