M

ore politicians, claiming the full support of their parties, said they were ready to seek the post of Jakarta governor — although official registration for the 2012 gubernatorial election has not begun — with the Golkar Party’s Prya Ramadhani the latest figure to emerge.

The head of the Golkar wing at the City Council, Ashraf Ali, told The Jakarta Post that Golkar’s Jakarta branch would support branch chair Prya Ramadhani’s bid to be the party’s sole candidate for the election.

He said that as the head of the party’s Jakarta branch, Prya had all the requisite qualities needed to run for the post.

Ali added that party chief patron Aburizal Bakrie, Prya’s daughter’s father-in-law, was informed of the decision. “I believe our chief patron will agree with our decision,” he said.

The chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Democratic Party, Nachrowi Ramli, claimed he had the support of party chief patron President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“[Yudhoyono] has approved of my decision to announce my bid to run for the post of Jakarta governor,” Nachrowi told the Post on Saturday.

However, the retired general said an official decision from the party executive board as to whether
he would be the party’s sole candidate for the post had not been issued. Incumbent Governor Fauzi Bowo, who is expected to seek reelection, is also a member of the Democratic Party.

The chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party’s (PKS) Jakarta branch, Selamat Nurdin, told the Post that the PKS had not officially nominated a candidate to represent the party in the gubernatorial election.

He said that while the PKS encouraged its members to nominate themselves, the party was focused on endorsing Triwisaksana, the current deputy speaker at the City Council, as its candidate.

“We have been conducting studies to gauge public opinion on the type of the leader they would like and results so far show that Triwisaksana has captured people’s hearts,” Selamat said, adding that the party’s Jakarta branch would present the results of the survey, which began in December, next month.

“We have been publicly endorsing Triwisaksana for a while and at the same time looking at other political parties to see if there is the possibility of building a coalition,” he said.

The Jakarta office of the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced last month that the 2012 gubernatorial election would take place on Aug. 8 next year.

Other people who have expressed an interest in running for the post include economist Faisal Basri;
the chairman of the fan club of rock band Slank, Firman Abadi; former culture and tourism minister Marzuki Usman; and former youth and sports minister Adhyaksa Dault. (msa)