Jakarta Globe

Ani Denies Having Any Ambitions for Indonesian Presidency

Kristiani “Ani" Herawati Yudhoyono, the wife of the president, on Monday ruled out the possibility of running in the 2014 presidential election, saying that she would not be following in the historic footsteps of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“If you are asking me if I will join the [presidential] race like Hillary, the answer is no,” Ani said during a question and answer session with 69 visiting students from Taruna Nusantara High School at the State Palace on Monday. The question was posed by a student named Airina.

Having served as first lady for the United States when her husband, Bill Clinton, was the 42nd US president, Hillary Clinton became a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2008 election.

“It has never crossed my mind to replace Pak SBY [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono]. My full support is for SBY to carry out his duties in the best possible way,” Ani said.

She added that she was happy to see her husband carrying out his duties well.

Ani said that as first lady her job was to accompany her husband and take care of him, as well as to be a good conversationalist and the president’s “discussion partner.”

In the 2008 presidential nomination race, Hillary Clinton won more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but narrowly lost the nomination to Senator Barack Obama.

Camps within Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party are mulling over the idea of endorsing Ani as a potential candidate for the party’s chairmanship next year, and as a presidential candidate to run in 2014.

Yunarto Widjaja, an analyst with the Charta Politika political research group, said on Monday that Ani’s statement would ease the growing sentiment that Yudhoyono’s “rule” over the nation would one day resemble that of Indonesia’s former autocratic leader Suharto, who ruled the country with an iron hand for 32 years.

“I think her statement silences rumors about the role Yudhoyono’s family intends to play in politics,” Yunarto said. “However, it remains to be seen whether she can resist pressure from certain interests within the Democratic Party,” he added, referring to rumors that surfaced after Yudhoyono’s son Edhie Baskoro became a lawmaker.

Amir Syamsuddin, the Democratic Party’s secretary general, referred to Ani as a “promising” candidate.

However, a top party executive, Ahmad Mubarok, dismissed the possibility of a run by Ani, stating that President Yudhoyono would not allow her to run.

Ani led the Democratic Party for around 18 months after the party was established to act as President Yudhoyono’s vehicle to enter the 2004 presidential race.

The party is currently led by Ani’s brother Hadi Utomo.

“The president said he would not allow nepotism within the party,” Ahmad said, adding that the president planned to enter the educational sector once his second term ended in 2014.

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