Hundreds of local leader-elects in 21 provinces were certified on Thursday as winners of November’s regional polls. The KPU’s regional offices were able to finalize their victories after their opponents decided not to lodge a legal motion challenging the election results announced by the poll body in December last year.

Among gubernatorial candidate pairs certified on Thursday were Pramono Anung and Rano Karno in Jakarta; Dedi Mulyadi and Erwan Setiawan in West Java; Andra Soni and Dimyati Natakusumah in Banten; and Wayan Koster and I Nyoman Giri Prasta in Bali.

The final vote tally announced late last year showed that candidates backed by political parties of the ruling Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), some of whom were also endorsed by former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, beat their rivals who were nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in some of the country’s most populous provinces.

Transitional play

November’s simultaneous regional head elections saw a repeat of the power play that took place in the 2024 general election between KIM and the PDI-P, led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, which is currently the only de facto opposition party.

The rare exception was in Jakarta, when PDI-P cadres Pramono and Rano beat KIM-nominated, Jokowi-endorsed pair of former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil and his running mate Suswono.