Regional Election Fever Grips Jakarta

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- There are still five months to go before simultaneous regional head elections (or Pilkada, the Indonesian language acronym for the polls) are held in seven provinces in Indonesia but campaigning started as soon as the nomination period drew to a close at the stroke of midnight last Friday. The elections, slated for Feb 15, 2017, will be held in the provinces of Jakarta's Special Capital Region, Aceh, Bangka Belitung, Banten, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi and West Papua. At the close of nominations, General Elections Commission (KPU) director Husni Kamil Manik announced that 153 pairs of candidates have registered to contest for the seven governor and deputy governor posts, 18 mayor and deputy mayor posts, and 76 district head and deputy head posts. A total of 116 pairs are contesting on their respective party tickets while the rest are independent candidates. All the candidates are currently undergoing medical screening, including mental health assessment, to ensure that they are healthy and drug-free. Beginning Oct 5, KPU will examine their personal records before making an official announcement on Oct 24 on whether they are eligible to contest in the elections. MEDIA FOCUS The three-cornered fight for the governor's post in Jakarta seems to have garnered the most media attention thus far. The scramble for the capital city's top post is an interesting one in view of the personality of the incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja (Cahaya) Purnama, or better known as Ahok, who assumed the post two years ago after (Indonesian President) Joko Widodo vacated it to run for the presidency. Ahok, who hails from Pulau Belitung, was good fodder for journalists, no thanks to his foul temper and tendency to get irritated easily. These traits have, quite often, caused him to be censured by politicians, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Jakarta citizens themselves. Ahok has also quarreled with district heads in Jakarta and even sacked dozens of civil servants who he believed were untrustworthy. But he has his share of fans who admired his courage to resort to unpopular measures to remove squatters and illegal hawkers from the capital. He even created controversy when he refused to approve the yearly budget for the Jakarta District House of Representatives - whose status is equivalent to that of Malaysia's State Legislative Assembly - after alleging that it was "very confusing". Ahok is seeking re-election as Jakarta mayor as an independent candidate and he has even roped in an NGO called Friends of Ahok to work for him. It managed 0to collect almost a million copies of Jakarta voters' identity cards as proof of their support for the mercurial governor. POLITICAL SUPPORT Ahok, formerly a member of the Gerindra party, has received the blessings of former Indonesian President Mergawati Sokarnoputri, who leads the PDI-P party. He and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat will be challenged by two other pairs, Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni. It is expected to be a tough fight, looking at the credentials of all the candidates. While Ahok is a proxy of Megawati's influence, his two pairs of opponents symbolise the influential power wielded by former president Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono and Prabowo Subianto, who was a candidate in the presidential election in 2014. According to local media reports, the emergence of Agus Harimurti - the eldest son of Susilo - as an election candidate came as a shock as it was most unexpected. Apparently, it was a last minute decision by Susilo's Parti Demokrat, as well as other political parties of Parti Persatuan Pembangunan, Parti Amanat Nasional and Parti Kebangkitan Bangsa, to field Agus as a candidate and it was only announced the night before nominations closed. Agus, 38, was an army officer holding the rank of Major, but he had to tender his resignation the day before his candidature was announced. Nachrowi Ramli, a senior Parti Demokrat leader, said Agus was not selected by Susilo but by the other parties. In fact, he added, the decision to field Agus as a candidate even took his family by surprise. Agus and his running mate Sylviana, a high-ranking officer at the governor's office, are leaving it to the people of Jakarta to choose the best pair of candidates for the governor and deputy governor posts. Agus was quoted as saying that although he was very fond of his military career, he was willing to let it go in order to serve the people. The third pair of candidates eyeing the Jakarta governor and deputy governor posts consist of former Indonesian Education and Culture Minister Dr Anies Baswedan and well-known entrepreneur Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, who have the support of the coalition comprising Parti Gerindra and Parti Keadilan Sejahtera. Anies, who is known to be an intellectual, was a minister until last month when he was dropped from Joko Widodo's Cabinet without any rhyme or reason. His pair Sandiaga is a young businessman who has even been listed by Forbes magazine as the 29th richest man in Indonesia. Sandiaga said he and Anies were a pair of professionals whose involvement in politics was aimed at helping the people to solve their problems. "We realise that the people of Jakara are beset with various problems, such as scarcity of jobs and the soaring prices of daily necessities. We want to help resolve these issues and we are ready to assist the people," he said. According to KPU records, Jakarta has more than 7.4 million citizens who are eligible to vote in the 2017 Pilkada to elect their next governor and deputy governor. --BERNAMA