The Dec. 9 elections will see some politically wired figures competing, including President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is aiming to secure the mayorship in Surakarta, Central Java.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto’s niece, Rahayu Saraswati Djojohadikusumo, and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin’s daughter, Siti Nur Azizah, will compete in the South Tangerang mayoral race in Banten. Rahayu will run for deputy mayor, while Siti leads a separate election ticket as a mayoral candidate.

There is bound to be a lot of coverage on such high-profile candidates, but political analysts are also pointing to races in other regions that promise a competitive showdown between incumbents and members of the local elite.

In Depok, West Java, for example, the city’s sitting mayor and deputy mayor have split up to face off against one another for the upcoming mayorship contest. Incumbent Mayor Mohammad Idris has teamed up with local legislative council (DPRD) member Imam Budi Hartono, while incumbent Deputy Mayor Priadi Supriatna has paired up with Afifah Alia.

Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) political researcher Arya Fernandes said the electoral contests where the incumbent leaders are splitting up to compete have all the ingredients to be a competitive race, as one often did not have a clear lead over the other.

“They have similar financial resources and also have equally strong political connections,” Arya told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “It is why the [elections] in areas such as Depok promise to be very competitive.”

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which counts Depok as one of its major strongholds, had thrown its support behind the Mohammad-Imam ticket along with the United Development Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, the Priadi-Afifah pair is being supported by a larger coalition of parties that include the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, Gerindra and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Kunto Adi Wibowo, executive director of pollster KedaiKOPI, said the Depok mayoral race would gauge the strength of the PKS in its own stronghold as it competes against strong rivals from a coalition of parties supporting the incumbent deputy mayor.

“We will see whether the PKS can still keep its grips on Depok or if it will lose to [other parties],” Kunto said Monday.

The Makassar mayoral race in South Sulawesi offers a similar story — with a twist. Former Makassar mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto and deputy mayor Syamsu Rizal will compete against each other in the upcoming election on separate tickets. Ramdhan tapped former PPP lawmaker Fatmawati Rusdi as his running mate, while Syamsu is to run with doctor and racing enthusiast Fadli Ananda.

The pairs will go up against the prevailing political dynasty in Makassar. Imran Yasin Limpo, the brother of Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, is to join hands with Andi Muhammad Zunnun, the son of senior Golkar politician Nurdin Halid.

The Ramdhan-Fatmawati ticket secured an endorsement by Gerindra and the NasDem Party, while Irman and Andi have the backing of Golkar, PAN and the PKS.

This year’s mayoral race in Makassar will be held on the back of the unlikely blank box victory in the 2018 election. Some 53 percent of voters preferred at the time to poke through the blank box on the ballot paper, leaving the sole candidate pairing of Munafri Arifuddin and Andi Rachmatika Dewi to lose with just 47 percent of the vote.

Undeterred by his loss, Munafri joins the 2020 race alongside local bureaucrat Abdul Rahman Bando. The pair secured the backing of the PPP, the Democratic Party and the United Indonesia Party (Perindo).

In the 2018 election, Ramdhan joined the race as an independent candidate along with running mate Indira Mulyasari Paramastuti, but the Supreme Court later disqualified them after they were found guilty of violating Article 71 of the 2016 Regional Elections Law, which covers the misuse of authority by incumbent candidates.

Ramdhan, whose tenure ended last year, was found to have distributed nearly 6,000 free smartphones for the heads of the neighborhood (RT) and community units (RW) in his city prior to the election.

In Banyuwangi, East Java, which was recently named the top-performing regional administration in the country, the upcoming election will be a litmus test to see whether the existing political dynasty there is able to maintain its grip on the regency, KedaiKOPI’s Kunto said.

Ipuk Fiestiandani Azwar Anas, the wife of the current Banyuwangi regent, is aiming for the top job with her running mate of choice, Sugirah. The pair was nominated by the PDI-P, Gerindra, PPP, Hanura and NasDem.

The ticket will face off against incumbent Deputy Regent Yusuf Widyatmoko and Muhammad Riza Aziziy, who has close ties with one of the most influential Islamic boarding schools in the area. The Yusuf-Riza candidacy is backed by the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Democratic Party, Golkar and the PKS.

“In Banyuwangi, we will see whether voters will [continue to support] the political dynasty, which is widely considered to have successfully developed the regency, or whether voters will say that the candidates’ competency rather than their familial background matters more,” said Kunto.

Despite being regarded as lacking the prestige and allure of national-level legislative or presidential elections, regional elections are seen as vital for political parties to secure their advantage for subsequent races, said Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin.

“[Electoral] victory in certain regions is important in the context of future elections because regional leaders have the control of the regions’ resources, including the regional budget as well as its networks,” Ujang said on Monday.

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