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The more, the merrier
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri (unseen) dresses Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who has been endorsed as the party's gubernatorial candidate, with a red jacket similar to the party's jacket, while Ahok's pair in the election, Deputy Govenor Djarot Syaiful Hidayat (right), smiles. (Antara Photo/Rosa Panggabean)
T
he more, the merrier and on Friday there was nobody merrier in town than incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, especially after seeing his rival coalitions split and go their separate ways by nominating their own candidates.
Angered by the unilateral move taken by the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in prematurely nominating Sandiaga Uno and obscure PKS politician Mardani Ali Sera as their ticket in the poll, a coalition of the Democratic Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) decided to field former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono to top the ticket, thus living up to the name given to the political grouping, the Kinship Coalition.
As his running mate is Sylviana Murni, a career bureaucrat at City Hall, whose last position was assistant to Ahok in charge of tourism and cultural affairs.
Agus, who will have to resign from the Army in order to contest the election, is a surprise choice given his utter lack of experience in practical politics.
Meanwhile, after doing the math and discovering that a Sandiaga-Mardani ticket would be a tough sell, Gerindra and PKS shuffled the cards and pulled out an ace in the form of former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan. Mardani has been given the consolation prize; being named the ticket’s campaign team head.
The prospect of a three-horse race might please Ahok. In a two-way-tie that pit him against Anies-Sandiaga, Ahok, and his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat, would certainly face a tight contest, as a number of public opinion polls have found that the gap in electability between the Ahok-Djarot ticket and Anies-Sandiaga is within the margin of error.
Given the untested quality of Agus and Sylvia, we may have doubts over their ability to get a significant amount of votes, but even that might be enough to take votes from the Anies-Sandiaga ticket, improving the incumbent’s prospects in the Feb. 15, 2017 race. Things, however, could turn hairy for Ahok, especially if the other two tickets prevent him from getting an initial majority of votes and a second round is needed to find a winner.
And that is when the real battle begins, a time when the major players in national politics could be forced to get their hands dirty and decide the election result. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo certainly does not want to see his candidate, in this case Ahok, lose the election, a humiliation that could complicate his bid for reelection in 2019.
For Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto, the Jakarta gubernatorial election is the conduit for his personal vendetta after his defeat in the 2014 presidential election.
The Kinship Coalition’s decision to nominate Agus might appear baffling to many, but Yudhoyono has his eye on building a political dynasty and he may be testing the water by allowing his son to join the race.
The stakes have never been higher in the Jakarta election.
