An Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) official has alleged that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his allies worked to stop former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan from running on the party’s ticket in the upcoming West Java gubernatorial election.

Rumors were circulating on Thursday, the last day of candidate registration for the upcoming regional elections, that the PDI-P would nominate Anies for governor of West Java. The nationalistic party had reportedly previously been considering backing Anies’ reelection bid in Jakarta but opted instead for Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung in the capital city.

In the West Java election, the PDI-P eventually went with Pangandaran regent Jeje Wiradinata and radio personality Ronal Surapradja, both of whom are members of the party. The PDI-P’s West Java chapter head, Ono Surono, registered the duo’s candidacy with the provincial office of the General Elections Commission (KPU) at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, 30 minutes before the registration period closed at midnight.

Ono acknowledged that the party had been considering supporting Anies in West Java, with PDI-P central board officials communicating with the former Jakarta governor since Wednesday. He said the party felt that Anies, who was born in the province’s Kuningan regency, had a good track record in his leadership of Jakarta from 2017 to 2022.

“However, we’re facing a huge challenge. [There were] ‘hands’ that disagreed with the PDI-P backing Pak Anies,” Ono said at the West Java KPU office in Bandung at midnight on Thursday.

Read also: PDI-P shuts door on Anies reelection bid

Asked whom the “hands” referred to, he responded quickly: “Mulyono and the gang. Just call them ‘Mulyono,’” eliciting cheers from PDI-P supporters in attendance.

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