The fact that we now have non-Jakartans like Ridwan Kamil, a Golkar Party politician and former West Java governor who polls at around 16 percent, and Pramono Anung, a native of East Java who is essentially a stranger to the capital, shows how far party leaders can go in creating a unified position against Anies.

And for obvious reasons.

It is evident that the ruling coalition and the political elite, including outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, don’t like the prospect of Anies running for reelection.

The consensus has been that they need to block Anies by any means necessary to prevent a hotly contested presidential election in 2029, with the former Jakarta governor being one of the contenders.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) toyed with the idea of mounting a serious opposition against the ruling coalition by picking Anies for the Jakarta race, and contemplated pairing him with actor and former deputy Banten governor Rano Karno, who is also popular with the native Betawi ethnic group.

The ticket looked like a surefire bet, especially after the Constitutional Court dropped the 20 percent threshold for political parties to be able to nominate their candidates in the regional election.

The prospect of nominating Anies looked serious after the defeated presidential candidate visited the PDI-P headquarters last week for an audience with party matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri.

If that had happened, the PDI-P nominating Anies would have been the ultimate about-face for both sides and would have amounted to a declaration of war against the ruling coalition.

Alas, it was a bridge too far for the PDI-P.

Despite full backing from the Jakarta branch of the PDI-P and an endorsement from a clique within the PDI-P spearheaded by party secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto, the party’s top leadership resisted picking Anies for Jakarta’s gubernatorial race, instead opting for a safe choice in Pramono.

Megawati was reported to have concerns with Anies’ record from the 2017 gubernatorial election, when he was blamed for stoking religious sentiment, which led to the imprisonment of then-Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

Certainly, the primary consideration for the PDI-P was not about appeasing Jokowi, whose relationship with Megawati has reached its nadir following the outgoing president’s decision to abandon the presidential bid of Ganjar Pranowo this year.

However, Megawati certainly wants to build a better relationship with Prabowo’s upcoming administration. After all, on a more personal level there has never been acrimony between Megawati and Prabowo, so it’s only natural that the PDI-P leader is inclined to collaborate with the president-elect.

Nominating Pramono at the top of the ticket could also be a hedging strategy for the PDI-P.

Having Pramono on the ticket is a safe bet against Jokowi’s influential position beyond Oct.  20, especially after Jokowi’s right-hand man Bahlil Lahadalia’s coup in Golkar, a move which could secure Jokowi’s place in politics after he leaves office in October this year.

At the end of the day, having Ridwan and Pramono at the top of the tickets, along with lesser known independent candidate Dharma Pongrekun, is better than it could have been, if not for the Constitutional Court ruling.

With the PDI-P failing to secure the 20 percent threshold, the party would have had to sit on the sidelines and voters in Jakarta would have had an uncontested election, which would have been an insult to democracy.

The race may not be ideal, but at least it’s competitive. May the best man win!