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Mayoral hopefuls look to introduce themselves to South Tangerang voters
While the simultaneous 2020 regional elections may still be months away, banners and posters promoting mayoral hopefuls have begun popping up around South Tangerang, Banten, as the prospective candidates seek to begin introducing themselves to voters
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span>While the simultaneous 2020 regional elections may still be months away, banners and posters promoting mayoral hopefuls have begun popping up around South Tangerang, Banten, as the prospective candidates seek to begin introducing themselves to voters.
Considered one of Greater Jakarta’s more affluent areas, with modern housing complexes, malls and other public facilities, the city of 1.7 million people is among the 270 regions set to hold elections in September.
With Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany set to conclude her second and final term next year, the election will be an opportunity for new hopefuls to run for office.
Among the prominent names are current Deputy Mayor Benyamin Davnie, Siti Nur Azizah, the daughter of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, and Heri Gagarin, the former head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) South Tangerang branch.
Benyamin has been Airin’s deputy since they were elected for their first term in 2011 in the first ever regional elections held in South Tangerang after it was granted municipality status by the Home Ministry. It was formerly part of Tangerang regency.
Airin, a Golkar Party politician, has long faced scrutiny from her opponents as she is married to the younger brother of former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah. Atut, who is currently serving time in prison for graft, and some of her family members have been accused of seeking to establish a political dynasty in Banten. Many of their family members hold top spots in regional administrations and local councils in the province.
Benyamin, who was the Tangerang regency Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head before South Tangerang was declared a new administrative city in 2008, expressed optimism about his prospects of winning the mayoral race.
“As a former Bappeda head, I was the one who developed studies about South Tangerang. Also, I have served the city for almost 10 years with Bu Airin. These reasons encourage me to want to continue developing the city,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Although it has not yet been confirmed by Golkar, the party with the most seats in the South Tangerang Council, Benyamin claimed the party would likely nominate him, with Pilar Saga Ichsan as his deputy.
Pilar is the son of Serang Regent Ratu Tatu Chasanah, who is also Atut's sister.
Pilar is expected to appeal to the youth as he is an active Karang Taruna youth group member in Banten. His professional background as an architect would also make the pair a "good combination", Benyamin added.
Other political parties have also not made announcements on which candidates they will back for the upcoming elections.
Another bureaucrat, Azizah, who resigned as a civil servant at the Religious Affairs Ministry, claimed many people were dissatisfied with the incumbent and said she was motivated to contest the mayoral race to provide an alternative choice for voters.
“I want to promote equality in South Tangerang,” Azizah said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Heri, a 45-year-old politician who has repeatedly expressed interest in running for mayor since 2011, said he was motivated simply by a desire to improve his hometown.
Having been a PDI-P member for 27 years, he expressed optimism the party would nominate him in the upcoming race.
Ahead of the election, he told the Post he aimed to campaign on his plans to address common problems, such as improving health and education services, waste management and traffic congestion.
Diverging from the conventional approach, Fahd Pahdepie, the youngest of the mayoral hopefuls, has decided to focus on running a digital campaign to boost his prominence. He said the approach was not only “cheaper” but also more effective at reaching youth and middle-high class voters.
With more than 50 percent of South Tangerang residents between 15 until 45 years of age, Fahd said he aimed to encourage youth participation in the governance of the city. “The administration does not properly involve this demographic in their development plans. I would like to empower this group,” he told the Post on Tuesday.
He also criticized Airin’s administration for not addressing inequality.
“With a city budget of Rp 3.9 trillion [US$285.2 million], South Tangerang should be better. The city’s statistics are all in a good shape but in reality, a large [economic] gap still lingers,” he added.
Serving as mayor would open up doors to higher leadership positions in government, said Zaki Mubarak, a political expert from State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah in Ciputat, South Tangerang.
“[Being the leader of South Tangerang] provides potential access to national leadership,” he told the Post.
As the mayoral hopeful begin their unofficial campaigns prior to the commencement of the official campaign period — slated to be from July 11 to Sept. 19 — Zaki reminded the candidates to focus on offering wide-ranging platforms.
“Their [current] slogans are too generic, probably because there is not yet certainty about party nominations. Let’s see if they offer more detailed proposals,” he said.
