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Parties begin to unify behind Ridwan as Anies’ candidacy grows uncertain
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Ridwan Kamil (right), a Golkar Party politician and former West Java governor, speaks with Prabowo Subianto on Dec. 12, 2023, during the first presidential debate, ahead of the 2024 general election. (The Jakarta Post/X/Helmy Yahya)
The Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) has begun to coalesce around the bid of Ridwan Kamil in the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial race and is now seeking to bring into its fold more political parties from rival camps, putting the potential bid of frontrunner Anies Baswedan at risk.
After months of disagreement over whether to nominate popular former West Java governor Ridwan for the gubernatorial race in Jakarta or for reelection in West Java, political parties in KIM, the electoral alliance behind February’s presidential winner Prabowo Subianto, appeared to be closing in on an agreement on their ticket arrangement.
In a surprising turn of events, Golkar indicated on Friday that it might support Ridwan in Jakarta, caving to the increasing pressure from other alliance members to allow him to contest the race on their joint ticket.
Golkar had initially pushed for Ridwan to seek reelection in the nation’s most populous province of West Java. But other coalition members, including de facto leader Gerindra Party, preferred to support Ridwan to run for Jakarta governor and Gerindra politician Dedi Mulyadi for West Java governor in the simultaneous regional elections in November.
But Golkar has now decided to endorse Dedi in West Java on the condition that Dedi picks a Golkar member as his running mate.
“It’s obvious that if we nominate Dedi for West Java, you know who our pick for Jakarta is,” Golkar chair Airlangga Hartarto said on Friday when asked whether Dedi’s nomination in West Java meant that Golkar would support Ridwan for Jakarta governor.
Read also: Golkar signals Ridwan Kamil to run in West Java instead of Jakarta
