JAKARTA: One of Indonesia’s largest parties, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) has confirmed that it will nominate new candidates instead of Anies Baswedan for the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election.
The decision marks a departure from Gerindra’s previous position in backing Mr Anies for the 2017 Jakarta poll. Mr Anies ran for president in the February general election but ended as runner-up, with former general Prabowo Subianto emerging victorious in the three-horse race.
Gerindra Secretary-General Ahmad Muzani said they prefer to support young and fresh candidates to contest in the Jakarta election, which will seek a new governor for the city that will soon lose its status as the country’s capital city. The new capital Nusantara in eastern Kalimantan will take over the status on Indonesia’s 79th Independence Day on Aug 17.
Mr Ahmad said that Gerindra seeks to champion a new figure for the Jakarta gubernatorial seat, with discussions already underway among coalition partners to finalise the nomination.
“We have young and fresh candidates for the Jakarta election,” said Mr Ahmad as quoted by Jakarta Globe on Thursday (Apr 18).
When asked about the possibility of supporting Mr Anies, he quipped: “Anies who?”
Mr Anies clinched the Jakarta governorship in 2017 with the backing of President-elect Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
After completing his tenure, Mr Anies ran for the presidential election with National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar as his running mate and with the support of two parties: PKS and the National Democratic (NasDem) Party.
Gerindra and other parties parted ways with Mr Anies, with Gerindra’s chairman Prabowo and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka also participating in the presidential race held on February 14.
The General Election Commission (KPU) has declared Mr Prabowo and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka as the winners of the election, securing 58.59% of the total votes cast. Anies-Muhaimin Iskandar trailed with 24.95% of the votes.
Mr Anies, alongside another unsuccessful presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo, is contesting the results, alleging electoral fraud and irregularities. The matter now rests with the Indonesian Constitutional Court which is expected to issue its ruling by April 22.
If the court rejects the complaints, Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran, who is also the outgoing President Joko Widodo’s eldest son, will take their oath of office in October.
Amid the election dispute, speculation has grown regarding Mr Anies’ potential candidacy in the November Jakarta gubernatorial election with NasDem and PKS expressing their readiness to support Mr Anies.
However, both parties stopped short of naming Mr Anies as their candidate as the dispute on the presidential election has yet to reach any conclusion.
According to observers, Gerindra is confident in naming its own candidate for the Jakarta governor election, given Mr Prabowo’s victory in securing 58 per cent of votes in the February presidential poll.
On who will be the perfect candidate that Gerindra will support for the Jakarta election, Mr Ahmad said his party is considering a fresh figure, although he was reluctant to name the person as the matter is still being considered internally.
Last week, Mr Airlangga Hartarto, leader of another major party Golkar, said the party and Gerindra were prepared to back former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil for Jakarta governor.
News outlet Kompas reported that both Golkar and Gerindra are in the process of lining up candidates for the country’s local elections in November.
Mr Ridwan, popularly known as Kang Emil, is seen as a rising star in Indonesian politics thanks to previous stints as West Java governor and Bandung mayor.
Indonesia held its presidential and legislative elections on Feb 14, and will hold local elections on Nov 27 to elect 38 governors, 416 regents and 98 mayors across the country.
