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Golkar signals Ridwan Kamil to run in West Java instead of Jakarta
As competition heats up ahead of the November regional head elections, the Golkar Party has signaled its intention to have former popular West Java governor Ridwan Kamil run for reelection instead of trying his luck in Jakarta, where he might square up against incumbent Anies Baswedan and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son Kaesang Pangarep.
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Amber alert: Donning the Golkar Party's yellow jacket, former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil (right) drives a matching yellow scooter outside Golkar's central executive office in Jakarta on Jan. 18, 2023. Recent polls suggest Ridwan could do well in either the West Java or Jakarta gubernatorial elections. (Instagram/@golkar.indonesia)
As competition heats up ahead of the November regional elections, the Golkar Party has signaled its intention to have former popular West Java governor Ridwan Kamil run for reelection instead of trying his luck in Jakarta, where he might square up against incumbent Anies Baswedan and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son Kaesang Pangarep.
Parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), the electoral alliance behind the victory of president-elect Prabowo Subianto and running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, have been working to form joint tickets in West Java and Jakarta, key provinces where political dynamics are increasingly intertwined.
Disagreements have split the alliance on who it should nominate in West Java and Jakarta. Golkar once expressed its interest in endorsing its own politician Ridwan for reelection in West Java, but other coalition members, including Gerindra, preferred to support Ridwan to run for Jakarta governor instead, in exchange for Gerindra politician and former Purwakarta regent Dedi Mulyadi running for West Java governor.
But Golkar last week endorsed senior politician and entrepreneur Jusuf Hamka to run for deputy governor in Jakarta and offered him to be paired with Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang, who chairs a small, self-styled youth party in the KIM coalition, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).
This appeared to be the strongest hint yet that Golkar is now fully pushing Ridwan for the West Java race and pulling him away from Jakarta.
Read also: Golkar, Gerindra race to win West Java heats up
Though nothing is official yet, Golkar’s idea to push Jusuf was welcomed by the party’s West Java chapter, which deemed it as a step to finalize Ridwan’s run in the province.
