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COMMENTARY: Politics is personal in Jakarta gubernatorial election
Only nine months after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo dismissed him as the culture and education minister, Anies Baswedan is now the governor-elect of Jakarta, a victory with political significance that should not be underestimated.
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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)
I
t was a great comeback story that people will continue to talk about in the years to come. It was also a Shakespearian revenge story worthy of its own stage play. For those on the losing side, it resembles a Greek tragedy from which it will take compunction and soul-searching before everyone involved is able to pick up the pieces and move on.
Only nine months after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo dismissed him as the culture and education minister, Anies Baswedan is now the governor-elect of Jakarta, a victory with political significance that should not be underestimated.
If Jokowi thought back then that removing Anies from his Cabinet could prevent him from aiming for the ultimate prize, running as a candidate in a future presidential election, the decision turned out to have brought him closer to the goal instead.
In fact, if Jokowi removed Anies to prevent him from setting a foundation for his presidential ambition, Anies now has an even stronger platform. If a ministerial position is handed out by the President to friends and allies, a governorship is an elected position directly from voters. Learning from Jokowi’s own experience, the position of Jakarta governor could be the most effective springboard to launch a campaign for the presidency.
With his win in the Jakarta gubernatorial election last week, and despite the pledge he made with Gerindra Party patron Prabowo Subianto that he would finish his five-year term, Anies has gained so much leverage that he is now one of two politicians in the country, apart from Prabowo, who could challenge Jokowi in the 2019 presidential race.
Much has been written about how political parties in Jokowi’s ruling coalition poorly served incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Thahaja Purnama. Parties, like the United Development Party (PPP), failed to utilize their networks to mobilize their members to vote for Ahok. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has again shown its tendency to be overly confident. Others have pointed out that the growth of conservatism among voters benefitted Anies, who simply rode the wave of Islamism to City Hall.
However, all politics are personal. How does a candidate, who does not come from a political party, who once failed in his bid to win the Democratic Party’s nomination as a presidential candidate, whose major achievement prior to getting a ministerial post was setting up a nonprofit movement, turn himself into a force to be reckoned with in national politics?
