On Monday, the electoral alliance jointly announced its nomination of Ridwan, a popular former West Java governor and a Golkar Party politician, and his running mate Suswono, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician and former agriculture minister, as its candidates for Jakarta governor and deputy governor, respectively.

The Gerindra Party led the selection of the joint ticket along with fellow members of the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), which was behind the successful presidential bid of Prabowo Subianto against rival candidate Anies in February’s general election.

After Prabowo’s sweeping victory, the alliance worked to expand its membership in view of the regional head elections, bringing the parties of rival camps into its fold to secure regional support for the president-elect’s incoming administration.

In a speech accepting his nomination on Monday, Ridwan described the alliance supporting his bid for Jakarta’s governorship as a symbol of postelection reconciliation and a promise to work together to address the city’s issues, especially the nation’s capital was moving to Nusantara, East Kalimantan.

“[Our camp], along with the city’s residents, will reimagine Jakarta and where the city is going once [it loses its capital city status]. That’s what we call the new Jakarta,” he said.

Ridwan’s nomination means that Anies has missed his chance at appearing on the city’s ballot paper in November, because the PKS and the NasDem Party, his two initial backers, have shifted their support to Ridwan.