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New deputy governor at last? Gerindra finally gives nod to PKS nominees
The two parties have agreed to submit the names of Agung Yulianto and Ahmad Syaikhu, both nominated by PKS, to Governor Anies Baswedan, who is to then ask the Jakarta Legislative Council to choose between the two.
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Jakarta Council speaker Prasetyo Edi Marsudi (brownish shirt), deputy speaker M. Taufik (white shirt) and the head of the PKS Jakarta chapter’s sharia council, Abdurrahman Suhaimi (in batik shirt), sit together during a discussion about the forthcoming appointment of a Jakarta deputy governor on Nov. 21, 2018. (tempo.co/M. Julnis Firmansyah)
A
prolonged tug-of-war between the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) over who is to fill the vacant deputy gubernatorial post ended on Friday, with the nationalist party finally giving a nod to the Islamist party’s nominees.
The two parties have agreed to submit the names of Agung Yulianto and Ahmad Syaikhu, both nominated by PKS, to Governor Anies Baswedan, who is to then ask the Jakarta Legislative Council to choose between the two.
Anies has led the city without a deputy since August last year when then deputy governor Sandiaga Uno left to run as a candidate for vice president.
“Alhamdulilah (thank God), we have agreed and accepted the recommendations,” Gerindra Jakarta chairman Mohamad Taufik said as quoted by kompas.com.
“We met Pak Anies two days ago. We [plan to officially] give him [the names] on Monday morning at 10,” he said.
Previously, Gerindra politicians questioned the quality of the candidates offered by the Islamist party, saying the three nominees – Akhmad Syaikhu, Agung Yulianto and Ahmad Suhaimi – did not understand Jakarta’s urban problems.
Analysts have accused the Gerindra Party of stonewalling PKS over the deputy gubernatorial nomination as the nationalist party also wanted the position, which they allegedly believed should have been reserved for a Gerindra member.
Sandiaga was a member of Gerindra, while Anies is non-partisan.
The PKS, however, insisted that the post be given to one of its members as Gerindra decided to pair Gerindra leader Prabowo Subianto with Sandiaga and not a PKS leader for the presidential election.
