Last year, not many in Central Java knew who Ganjar Pranowo was. The popularity of this House of Representatives (DPR) member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was no higher than seven percent, far below that of Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo and his deputy, Rustriningsih. That is why when his fellow members asked him to run in the gubernatorial elections, his first reaction was, "Oh, no!"

But Ganjar and his team were a