Jakarta. Businessman Sandiaga Uno will be the running mate for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s gubernatorial nominee in next year’s Jakarta governor race, Muhammad Taufik of the Great Indonesian Movement Party said on Tuesday (09/08).
Taufik, head of Gerindra’s provincial leadership board, claimed seven parties — under the so-called “kinship coalition” that controls the majority of the seats in the City Council — had agreed to endorse PDI-P’s eventual nominee as Jakarta governor to run with Gerindra’s own candidate Sandiaga as his or her deputy.
The seven-party “kinship coalition” was declared last Monday reportedly with a goal of preventing the re-election of incumbent governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is now officially backed by the Golkar Party, the National Democratic Party (NasDem) and the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura).
“All seven parties have agreed with this plan. We will let PDI-P choose who the governor should be,” Taufik said at the Jakarta City Council.
The seven parties Taufik referred to are PDI-P, Gerindra, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Democratic Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).
“The PDI-P has shown great humility. With 28 seats in the City Council, PDI-P can actually nominate its own pairing, but instead they’ve decided to join the coalition,” Taufik said.
However, many commentators believe PDI-P’s choice for the seat of Jakarta governor will depend on the whims of its chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia’s first president Soekarno and a president herself from 2001 to 2004, has not commented on rumors that her party wants Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini, better-known as Risma, to run as Jakarta governor next year.
Agung Wasono, executive director of the Institute for Economics Politics and Public Policy Analysis (Lanskap), said there are currently two political forces at war for the Jakarta governorship, the three political parties that have declared their support for incumbent Ahok and the other parties that control 75 percent of the seats in the City Council.
Agung said as it stands things can still change, and quickly, as PDI-P has enough seats in the council to exit the existing coalition anytime and go with its own nominees.
“The Jakarta governor race will not be determined by which nominee can get the most backing from political parties, but by which of them can prove to be the most popular candidate with the public. I believe PDI-P and Gerindra are looking closely at the polls to see which candidates the public loves,” Agung said.
“Ahok is leading by quite a margin in the polls. But yes, sometimes a big coalition can also beat a popular candidate,” Agung said. He was referring to Fauzi Bowo and Prijanto’s victory with the backing of a big coalition of parties against polls’ favorites Adang Daradjatun and Dani Anwar of PKS in the 2007 election. ****
Source: The Jakarta Globe
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