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Political machines play crucial role in Jakarta election
The political machines of candidates contesting the Jakarta gubernatorial election will play a crucial role in determining their fate as the Feb. 15 D-day approaches, an analyst says.
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Gubernatorial candidate pairs Agus Yudhoyono and Sylviana Murni (left to right), Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, and Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno attend the first gubernatorial candidate debate in Jakarta on Friday. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
T
he political machines of candidates contesting the Jakarta gubernatorial election will play a crucial role in determining their fate as the Feb.15 D-day approaches, an analyst says.
According to political analyst Ubedillah Badrun from the Jakarta State University (UNJ), only a few political parties are actually working although all had declared support for their preferred pair.
“As far as I have observed, political machines that have functioned well include the PDI-P [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle], Gerindra and PKS [Prosperous Justice Party],” Ubedillah said during the release of a recent study by Jakarta-based PT Grup Riset Potensial (GRP) in Jakarta on Monday.
GRP’s study revealed that the Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair would win if the election took place today with 46.4 percent of votes, leaving Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno in second place with 20.9 percent of votes, while the incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat would come in third with 20.4 percent.
Ubedillah cited the level of support for Ahok-Djarot as an example, attributing their poor polling to underperforming political parties. “Those that have endorsed Ahok-Djarot don’t work well. It is clear that their support is divided,” he said.
Besides the ruling PDI-P, the Ahok-Djarot ticket has also been endorsed by the Golkar Party, the Nasdem Party and the Hanura Party. Meanwhile, Agus-Sylvi supporters include the Democratic Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), while supporters of the Anies-Sandi ticket include the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
