Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan greeting reporters on Aug 24, 2024 during his visit to the Jakarta headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Cakung, East Jakarta. - Antara
JAKARTA: Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan obtained on Monday (Aug 26) three separate recommendation letters from the South Jakarta District Court to fulfill the administrative requirements for contesting the Jakarta gubernatorial election, even though he has yet to secure the support of any political parties.
Court spokesperson Djuyamto said the court issued the recommendations on the same day it received Anies’s request for the documents on his criminal record, his political rights and his financial solvency, the latter to prove he owed no debts to either the government or business entities.
“The documents [were provided] at the request of Anies Baswedan [to fulfil] the requirements of his candidacy as Jakarta governor,” Djuyamto said on Monday, as quoted by Antara.
On Tuesday, the regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU) open the three-day registration for the regional head elections in November, specifically for candidates with political party backing.
Observers speculate that Anies would run for reelection in Jakarta on the ticket of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) alongside Rano Karno, a PDI-P member, but the party is yet to announce its Jakarta ticket.
The nationalist party is now able to nominate a candidate pair on its own without forming an electoral alliance, thanks to last week’s Constitutional Court ruling that lowered the nomination threshold.
This ruling, along with the court’s opinion on the age of candidacy, was later adopted into a KPU regulation on the regional head elections, following mounting pressure from the public for the poll body to comply with the court’s decision.
If Anies gains formal backing from a political party, he will be up against former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil and running mate Suswono, who have the support of dozens of political parties in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), led by president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party.
Another potential rival could be retired police general Dharma Pongrekun and academic Kun Wardana, who are running on an independent ticket.
Although KPU Jakarta previously declared Dharma-Kun eligible to contest the city’s gubernatorial election, the pair has been marred by allegations of identity fraud for arbitrarily using voters’ names to fulfill the candidacy requirements. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
