Anies Baswedan stepped down from his position as Jakarta governor on Sunday, becoming the city's first leader in 10 years to complete a full five-year term in office.

The general public and experts have distinctly different views on Anies' job performance. A February survey by the Populi Center found that 86 percent of Jakarta residents were satisfied with Anies' leadership. Another survey by the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in June showed that 51 percent of expert respondents who were familiar with Jakarta's issues were dissatisfied with Anies' performance as governor.

Anies was generally praised for his COVID-19 response and efforts to improve the city's transportation system, but observes have expressed disappointment over his failure to tackle the city's employment, environmental and housing issues.

Leading through crisis

Anies was widely commended for his efforts to tame the spread of COVID-19 in Jakarta over the past two years, despite the fact that the capital was among the hardest-hit regions in multiple waves of infection due to its high population density.

During the devastating Delta wave in mid-2021, which pushed Jakarta's healthcare system to the brink of collapse, Anies worked to help bring the city's daily caseload down from around 14,600 to 2,600 and reduce the hospital bed occupancy rate from 90 percent to 73 percent in two weeks.

Read also: Jakarta sees notable changes under Anies leadership, but problems persist

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