JP/Wendra Ajistyatam

In a week, candidates running for the Jakarta governor and vice governor seats will kick off their political campaigns. Every Jakarta street corner, television station and newspaper is expected to be filled with candidates’ pictures and campaign promises. However, when it comes to stop-offs on the campaign trail, there are some places that are unquestionable favorites. Here are the five favorite places for political campaign events in Jakarta.

Eviction sites

With the city administration’s tough approach to people who it deems to be illegally living in certain areas, evictions remain one of the most debated topics among gubernatorial candidates in Jakarta.

On Thursday, gubernatorial candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono visited evicted residents in Bukit Duri, South Jakarta. While the campaign period is yet to begin, Agus has already tried to attract voters by promising to govern the city in a more humane way if he is elected as governor.

On Sunday another candidate, Anies Baswedan, made a similar maneuver by visiting residents of Waru Doyong, East Jakarta, which is under threat of eviction.

Mosques

While the General Elections Commission prohibits any kind of political campaign event from being held in houses of worship, gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates still consider mosques to be the best places to win the hearts of voters.

With more than 90 percent of eligible voters being Muslim, visiting mosques is a guaranteed popularity-booster for candidates.

Although the campaign period has not officially started, gubernatorial candidates have visited mosques, especially for Friday prayers. After the prayers, the candidates meet residents, chat and take group selfies.

On Oct. 7, gubernatorial candidate Anies visited Nurul Iman mosque in Kampung Guji, West Jakarta. After conducting the Friday prayers, the mosque leader prayed for Anies.

“Pak Jokowi visited this mosque in the past, he was then elected governor,” the leader told Anies, referring to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s visit before the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2012, which Jokowi and his running mate Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama won.

Among the most popular mosques for campaigning are the old Luar Batang Mosque in North Jakarta and Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta.

Traditional MarketS

Despite the fact that supermarkets and modern markets are popping up in every corner of the city, candidates still believe that traditional markets are one of the best places to hear voters’ aspirations and increase their popularity.

Besides visiting mosques, Jokowi has previously visited three traditional markets in one day and last week, Agus and Anies visited traditional markets, especially those located in densely populated areas, such as Jatinegara market in East Jakarta.

With their high concentration of people during busy hours, the markets are expected to see more candidate visits during the upcoming three-month political campaign period.

Bung Karno Sports Stadium

Dubbed as the country’s largest stadium, many political campaigns have been held in Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Central Jakarta. With the capacity of more than 88,000 people, the venue is a favorite place for would-be leaders to gather together a large amount of people.

On July. 5, 2014, tens of thousands of people flocked to the venue to take part in the famous “two finger salute” concert that was designed by performers and creative workers to encourage people to vote for Jokowi.

Jokowi’s rival in that election, Prabowo Subianto, also gathered a huge crowd in the same place four months earlier.

Low-cost apartment complexes

Low-cost apartment complexes, locally known as Rusunawa, are provided by the city administration to accommodate evicted residents. Like eviction sites, the apartment complexes are among candidates’ favorite places to appeal to marginalized people who have just been evicted from their houses.

Deputy gubernatorial candidate Sandiaga Uno said last month that he had visited several Rusunawa and listened to the aspirations of evicted residents. On Oct. 11, Agus and his wife, former model and TV presenter Annisa Pohan, visited Rusunawa Koja in North Jakarta to implore the residents to support his candidacy.

“My wife and I are grateful for the opportunity meet you, we want to introduce ourselves and get closer with the residents,” Agus said during the visit.

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