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n looking for the right person to be his partner to lead Jakarta until 2017, Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama says that he has been pondering over three candidates.

One name he has mentioned is that of Sarwo '€œYani'€ Handayani, the head of the gubernatorial team for development acceleration.

On Sunday, he said that the strongest candidate was the former mayor of Blitar in East Java, Djarot Syaiful Hidayat, and he added that he has been in discussion with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Djarot is also from the PDI-P.

'€œWe [Ahok and the PDI-P] are now weighing the advantages and weaknesses of each candidate,'€
he said.

Ahok previously met with PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri to talk with her about his deputy. Ahok reportedly proposed three names to her: Yani, Djarot and former Surabaya mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono.

The governor said that besides the three names, the PDI-P could also recommend their own candidates, including Boy Sadikin.

Ahok has said that he preferred seasoned civil servants to politicians. However, the PDI-P and the Gerindra Party that sponsored Ahok and the former governor, now President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, have said the deputy should be discussed by the Jakarta Council. Both parties have offered several names, including Boy, as their candidates.

Ahok said he chose Djarot, because although he was a person from a party, Djarot had extensive experience in local administration during his 10-year tenure as Blitar mayor. Djarot was well-known for his efforts to reform the Blitar administration bureaucracy.

'€œWe have also been good friends since I was the East Belitung Timur regent,'€ he said, adding that both of them also received the same awards for being the best local leaders by the magazine Tempo.

Ahok said that he had lately had some reservations regarding Yani because she had worked for the Jakarta administration for a long time. '€œWill she be able to take stern action, like firing her colleagues?'€ he asked.

Djarot, on the other hand, is a new person among the Jakarta bureaucrats, allowing him to be stern to any wayward subordinates.

Ahok added that Yani, the former deputy governor for spatial planning, had proven she was capable of performing well as an official, but she did not have any experience as a local leader.

According to the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2014 on regional head elections, Ahok is allowed to nominate his own deputy governor without any political approval from the City Council.

Separately, Djarot expressed his readiness to become the deputy governor. '€œDo not talk about readiness. We have to be ready [to be anything] for this country,'€ he said.

Djarot said, however, that Ahok had yet to talk to him about his plans.

'€œAhok does not mention names but only criteria for his deputy governor. The criteria include having experience as a local leader, good character, a clean background, accountability and being able to work together,'€ he said.

Djarot said he also often talked with the governor as they were good friends. '€œWe usually talk about bureaucracy, local governance and visions, as well as the relation between the executive and legislature,'€ he said.

Djarot, who is among the PDI-P'€™s central board executives, said his party had not officially proposed any candidates for deputy governor.

Pollster Populi Center political observer Nico Harjanto said it was better for Ahok to choose a deputy governor who could strengthen his political position.

'€œAhok can get the quality of bureaucracy and technocracy from his deputy governors, city secretary and other officials,'€ he said.

He added that Ahok should consider the political constellation, so he could run the administration well.

'€œThe deputy governor should be able to become a political middleman between the executive and legislature as the legislature has important roles, like legislating and budgeting,'€ he said.