Facing a friend-turned-foe in politics was never going to be easy, but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo grinned and bore it as he inaugurated on Monday one of his former ministers, Anies Baswedan, as the capital’s new governor for the next five years.

Prior to the ceremony, former culture and education minister Anies confidently strode into the State Palace, dressed head-to-toe in white, accompanied by his wife and his deputy Sandiaga Uno.

The two men lapped up the attention as they stood in the hall of the palace, waving at supporters all around them.

Jokowi seemed relaxed during the ceremony and grinned broadly for the cameras as he posed with Anies briefly before turning to shake hands with Sandiaga.

Anies played down any tensions between the two men, noting that they had chatted for a while following the ceremony as they had known each other for many years. However, Jokowi had not offered Anies any special advice for his new role.

“The President said that he would invite us to meet him in a couple of days. We’ll be ready, God willing,” Anies said.

Anies’ rise back onto the political stage came less than two years after Jokowi dismissed him from the Cabinet, a position he had gained after being one of Jokowi’s strongest supporters in the 2014 election.

The former Paramadina University rector, who had been regarded as a moderate Muslim, joined the government’s opposition coalition and made allies with conservative Muslim groups to earn his ticket in the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Supported by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Gerindra Party, Anies won 58 percent of the vote in April’s election, defeating incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, an ally of Jokowi.

Ahok was accused of blasphemy and became the target of conservative groups that supported Anies, including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), which led to the former’s defeat and a rise in sectarian tensions in the capital.

During his campaign Anies, and partner Sandiaga, made 23 pledges as part of their priority programs. The pledges included creating 200,000 jobs and entrepreneurs, stopping the Jakarta Bay reclamation project, offering paternity leave and increasing home ownership among the poor.

For Anies and Sandiaga fulfilling these promises will be no walk in the park.

The pledge to stop the Jakarta Bay reclamation will pit the new leaders against Jokowi’s administration, which has supported the multimillion dollar project.

Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan has insisted that the new governor and deputy governor must resume the construction of 19 artificial islets despite environmental violations.

Before the inauguration, both men gathered with their supporters at Sunda Kelapa Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta before starting their trip to the palace.

The chairman of the mosque council, Aksa Mahmud, in his speech, said the place was chosen for Anies and Sandiaga to meet their supporters before the inauguration because it was where it all started.

“In this mosque, on Sept. 2, we decided to nominate Pak Anies and Pak Sandiaga to be Jakarta’s new [leaders],” he said.

Aksa, a Golkar Party politician and brother-in-law of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, had reportedly pitched Anies to become a governor candidate last year and lobbied Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto to nominate him alongside businessman Sandiaga.

”We also want to thank all Jakarta citizens who supported our new governor, and we hope he can make our city peaceful,” he said, which met with cheers from Anies and Sandiaga supporters.

Anies and Sandiaga did not make speeches at the mosque, opting only for brief prayers before leaving for the State Palace.

Prabowo, who attended the inauguration ceremony, said that while he supported the pair’s determination to stick to their pledges, Prabowo also emphasized that they would need to be more flexible to accommodate all stakeholders.

“Promises are debts, so of course [Anies and Sandiaga] will work hard to uphold the people’s interests. However, I told them to be more accommodative and to pay attention to all sectors, and the interests of businesspeople,” he said.

In his first speech as governor at City Hall, Anies said he and Sandiaga would adhere to the principles of the national ideology of Pancasila in leading the city.

The principles include the belief in one God, humanity, unity, consensus and social justice.

“Indonesia is not a country based on one religion, but it’s also not a country which is anti-religion. Belief in God should be the basis of the state, in adherence to the first principle [of Pancasila],” he said.

“We, the pribumi [indigenous people], have been conquered before. Now it’s time for us to be the hosts in our own land. We worked hard to get rid of colonialism and we must enjoy our freedom,” he added.

Anies said eventually all of the principles should be applied in order to achieve Pancasila’s fifth principle of social justice.

“We can’t develop Jakarta for one person, for one group. But for all. The management of land, water, islands and bays should not be based on the interests of an individual or a group. We will make all efforts to defend those who cannot defend themselves,” he said. (dis)

_____________________________

Anies Rasyid Baswedan

• Born in Kuningan, West Java, May 7, 1969

Previous positions

• Culture and Education Minister (2014-2016)

• Rector of Jakarta-based Paramadina University (2007-2014)

Education

• 2005: PhD in Political Science from Northern Illinois University

• 1998: Master of Public Policy at School of Public Policy, College Park, University of Maryland

• 1995: Bachelor of Business Management from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.

Achievements

• 2008: Top 100 world’s public intellectuals by US magazine Foreign Policy

• 2009: Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum

• 2010: “20 Persons 20 Years” by a Tokyo-based international affairs magazine Foresight

• 2010: Top 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan

• 2010: An awardee of PASIAN Education Award for his roles in rural areas of Indonesia from PASIAD of Turkey

 

Sandiaga Salahudin Uno

• Born in Pekanbaru, Riau, June 28, 1969

Previous positions

• President director at PT Saratoga Investama Sedaya (1998-Present)

• Vice President for Small and Medium Enterprises of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) (2009-2010)

• Chairman of Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) (2005-2008)

• Financial Analyst at Seapower Asia Investment Ltd. (1993-1994)

• Chief financial officer and executive vice president at NTI Resources Ltd. (1995-1998)

Education

• 1992: Master of Business Administration from George Washington University, Washington, US

• 1990: Bachelor of Business Administration from Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, US

Achievements

• 2011: Forbes Magazine listed Sandiaga as the 37th richest man in Indonesia in 2011, but switched it to 47th in 2013.

• 2008: Indonesian Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Enterprise Asia

Source: The Jakarta Post

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