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ollowing President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s departure from City Hall and with acting governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama'€™s inauguration as governor imminent, all eyes are now on the position of deputy governor.

Debates concerning the candidates for deputy governor and the mechanism for selection have surfaced as leaders from the Jakarta branches of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party '€” the parties that endorsed Jokowi and Ahok in the 2012 gubernatorial election '€” have insisted on the use of regulations that favor their respective interests.

Deputy City Council speaker and Gerindra Party Jakarta chapter head M. Taufik referred to government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2004 on the election of governors, regents and mayors, which stipulates that in the case of a gap in leadership, a replacement will be selected based on Law No. 32/2004 on regional administrations, allowing the regional leader to propose candidates to the City Council.

'€œHowever, elections in Jakarta are conducted in accordance with Law No. 29/2007 on Jakarta'€™s special status, not Law No. 32/2004, which means the city'€™s leaders should be chosen by the people via direct elections,'€ Taufik said on Wednesday.

He acknowledged, however, there were different interpretations on the matter. '€œI would encourage the political parties to take the dispute to the Supreme Court,'€ he said.

The Gerindra Party also maintained that it should propose candidates for the deputy governorship, while the PDI-P insisted that the vacant position should be filled by a PDI-P candidate.

'€œFrom an ethical perspective, the PDI-P should propose the candidates because Jokowi, who left the post [of governor], was a PDI-P candidate. It is not our issue that Ahok is no longer a Gerindra member,'€ City Council speaker Prasetio Edi Marsudi of the PDI-P said.

Ahok recently resigned his Gerindra membership due to his opposition to the party'€™s stance on direct elections, causing tensions between himself and Gerindra councilors.

The strained relations were exacerbated when Ahok said he would reject Taufik'€™s nomination for deputy governor.

Ahok also said he would be fine leading the capital without a deputy.

'€œI already have four [echelon I] deputies. In fact, I'€™d rather choose one of them. Bu Yani is pretty good,'€ he said, referring to the deputy governor for spatial planning and the environment, Sarwo Handayani.

Separately, Sarwo said she was ready, if she was appointed to fill the vacant position.

'€œPak Ahok is my boss and I, as a civil servant, should be ready for any duty,'€ she said, adding that she also had adequate experience in working closely together with councilors.

'€œWhen I was head of Bappeda [Jakarta Development Planning Board], I worked closely with the council. However, I have yet to communicate with the new councilors,'€ she said.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political researcher Siti Zuhro pointed out the pros and cons of both options.

'€œBased on Law No. 32/2004, the regional leader can propose candidates to the council, so the best practice should be candidates who are acceptable by all the relevant political parties. It is also possible to appoint an outsider but politics-wise, that wouldn'€™t be good for the city administration because without political stability, it would be hard to deliver on programs,'€ Siti said.

She added that '€œall parties, including the council, the city administration and the central government should be wise in determining the legal basis of the issue.'€