General Elections Commission (KPU) offices across the country announced on Sunday the final names on the ballots for the regional head elections, marking the start of the November race.

Much of the nation’s attention is directed at highly populated provinces and key battlegrounds in Java, such as Jakarta, which is still seen as a strategic province even though it is set to lose its status as Indonesia’s capital.

The KPU announced three candidate pairs for the Jakarta race. Among them were former West Java governor and Golkar Party politician Ridwan Kamil and his running mate Suswono of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the largest party in the city.

Ridwan and Suswono have the backing of president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), which has sought to replicate the electoral alliance from the February presidential election in regional elections in battleground provinces.

They will be up against the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) pairing of former cabinet secretary Pramono Anung and former Banten governor Rano Karno, as well as the independent candidate pair of retired police general Dharma Pongrekun and academic Kun Wardana.

In West Java, the country's most populous province, the KPU approved four candidate pairs for the gubernatorial election.

Former Purwakarta regent Dedi Mulyadi and his running mate, former Sumedang deputy regent Erwan Setiawan, are the pair to beat, according to a recent public opinion poll. The pair also boasts the largest electoral alliance, consisting of the Gerindra Party, the de facto leader of the KIM, as well as several KIM members.

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