Indonesia’s Nasdem backs former presidential candidate Anies for Jakarta governor election, in possible rematch against Ahok
Mr Anies is recognised for his achievements while Jakarta governor, including completing the construction of the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS) and the Jakarta International E-Prix Circuit (JIEC).
“His electability and integrity are something to be desired and it is the aspiration of the people of Jakarta to have him continue with his leadership for the city. This is our benchmark (for nominating Mr Anies),” Mr Willy said at the Nasdem press conference.
Expressing his gratitude for Nasdem’s endorsement, Mr Anies said that he agreed with Nasdem chairman Surya Paloh’s vision to see the city continue to advance through the works done by the Jakarta provincial government.
“Anything that we consider as successful should be continued and improved upon, while things that made no improvements will have to be improved,” said Mr Anies.
“So our focus for Jakarta is for it to be one of the world’s top cities on par with other advanced global cities,” he continued.
Previously, Mr Anies had served as Jakarta governor from 2017-2022, then became a presidential candidate in the February 2024 election. He lost to Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto who will take his oath of office in October.
Apart from Nasdem, Mr Anies has also received support from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). The National Awakening Party (PKB) has also stated that it will support Mr Anies but has yet to officially announce it.
Only PKS has proposed Mr Anies’ deputy governor candidate, former PKS president Sohibul Iman.
This has been met with pushback from PKB which considers Mr Sohibul as not suitable for the post because he is less popular in Jakarta.
Nasdem has stated that it supports Mr Anies unconditionally but will not propose any party member to be deputy governor candidates. It has granted Mr Anies the freedom to choose his own running mate.
Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), has broached the possibility of Mr Kaesang Pangarep – the youngest son of Joko Widodo – to be paired with Mr Anies for the Jakarta governor election, but this was rejected by Nasdem due Mr Kaesang’s very low popularity.
In an opinion poll conducted by local media platform Kompas in June, Mr Anies enjoyed the highest electability in Jakarta, at 29.8 per cent, while Mr Kaesang only received 1 per cent.
While it is still not known yet who Mr Anies’ rival will be as the official registration of candidates only starts on Aug 27, it is widely believed that there will be a rematch with Mr Ahok.
About 20 names have emerged as potential candidates for Jakarta governor which apart from Mr Anies and Mr Ahok, include other political heavyweights such as former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and State Owned Enterprises minister Erick Thohir.
Based on the Kompas survey, the second and third highest ranking possible candidates for Jakarta election were Mr Ahok with 20 per cent favorability and Mr Ridwan at 8.5 per cent.
Mr Erick and Mdm Sri Mulyani only received 2.3 percent and 1.3 per cent respectively.
