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aving garnered more than enough support to register their candidacy, independent teammates Faisal Basri and Biem Benjamin are upbeat about their chances of winning Jakarta’s second direct gubernatorial election in July.

Faisal, a noted economist from the University of Indonesia, said on Wednesday that his camp had collected signatures and copies of identity cards from a total of 547,359 citizens across the capital.

In order to officially register to join the election, independent candidates are required to gather the signatures and copies of ID cards from 4 percent of citizens, or 407,340 people in the city.

“This is a major development. It seemed unlikely when we first set out on this enterprise, but now we are very optimistic,” Faisal said.

He said the large support showed that there was an equal chance for independent candidates to compete in the gubernatorial election. “Independent candidates will never succeed if the people still believe in political parties. Apparently, many of the citizens no longer do,” Faisal.

The Faisal — Biem camp plans to submit their registration on Feb. 8 at the Jakarta branch of General Election Commission (KPU).

“We’ll keep collecting signatures and ID card copies until then, just to be on the safe side,” Faisal said, adding that the camp was targeting to collect more than 600,000 signatures and ID card copies.

In the past, independent tickets have been dismissed as having no chance in local elections, which are dominated by wealthy and powerful political parties. Critics say that independent candidates need to address financial problems and also promote their platforms to stand out among candidates backed by major political parties.

Sukardi Rinakit, a political observer from the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate, said separately that the independent candidates had a good chance in the coming election. “Jakarta voters have been disappointed with political parties and the elite politicians; they want another option.”

He dismissed the opinion that a governor with no political party support would find it difficult to direct policies without political support in the city council.

“Good political relations are beneficial, but a strong pro-people platform would be of more use. With a strong platform, any governor would only need to call on the people’s support if political parties refused to give it,” he said.

Earlier this month, another pair of independents, former Rear Marshal Prayitno Ramelan and businessman Teddy Suratmadji, claimed that they had collected almost 400,000 copies of Jakarta resident identity cards.