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Can Anies unite Jakarta?
There seems to be two Jakartas separated by an inequality in financial standings, educational background and religious affiliations.
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Gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan greets people after voting in the first round of Jakarta election in Cilandak, South Jakarta, on Feb. 15, 2017. (Antara/M Agung Rajasa)
J
akarta gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan and his running mate Sandiaga Uno are leading in exit polls and quick counts by around 16 percent against the incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat after the April 19 runoff.
Reflecting back at the past six months of campaigning, wherein both camps traded nasty blows against each other, there seems to be two Jakartas separated by an inequality in financial standings, educational background and religious affiliations. The fact that inequality itself persists makes separating these two Jakartas all too easy.
I remember my first encounter with these two Jakartas around six years ago. Then a student at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, I arrived star-struck at one of Jakarta’s five-star hotels for an international conference on futurology: an approach to anticipate future trends in the 21st century.
Several hours after leaving the conference venue, I boarded one of the city’s dying Metro Mini buses amid a vastly different audience. The farthest thought the latter group has about the future is providing food for their family members.
Like the two Jakartans I met then, there are also two Jakartans today: a Jakartan that wants reforms under the incumbent, Ahok; and a Jakartan that places its hopes on Anies. These two Jakartas coexist and both have equal rights to be. One is not necessarily less legitimate than the other.
As the governorship is transferred from Ahok to Anies, the imminent question is whether Anies can unite these two Jakartas.
As the incoming governor, Anies should ideally lead Jakarta as one entity instead of two. Akin to Anies’ statements during his campaign and debate, he is a servant to all of Jakarta and not just to those who voted for him.
