As the country’s capital, the vibrant and ever-changing Jakarta is known as one of the most unpredictable electorates in the country. Political parties that win legislative elections or have their tickets win presidential elections do not automatically control the city’s political scene because gubernatorial candidates supported by other political parties often take the city’s top post. In the first direct gubernatorial election in 2007, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which had won legislative elections three years earlier, failed to carry its candidate, retired police general Adang Daradjatun, to become governor. He lost to then-deputy governor Fauzi Bowo, who had been supported by the Democratic Party, the ruling party under president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration. In 2012, the Democratic Party had finally secured victory in the capital...