TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Post daily has declared their support for presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running-mate Jusuf Kalla as revealed in its editorial today.

The Jakarta Post’s chief editor Meidyatama Suryodiningrat said the decision was made after thorough consideration. “This support is the first time in The Jakarta Post’s history,” he told Tempo on Thursday.

He added the decision did not represent the political stance of all of the newspaper's editorial staff and was made after talks with directors and senior editors in the English-language newspaper. “We declare support [for Jokowi and Kalla] because this year’s presidential election is crucial in determining the future of Indonesia,” he said.

Despite the support, he guaranteed that The Jakarta Post would remain proportional in publishing news on both presidential tickets. “We will still give the same portion to each ticket in our reporting. Reporters are still free to write news without having to take side,” he said.

Meidyatama said his newspaper opted to throw its weight behind Jokowi as the inactive Jakarta governor shared the same ideology as The Jakarta Post’s. He added the decision was based on four aspects: Joko Widodo has more pluralism values, has no human rights issues, supports improvement of civil society and is loyal to the spirit of reform. “We do not see those things in the other candidate,” he said.

A similar move was made by The New York Times that supported Barack Obama during the 2012 US presidential election.

AMOS SIMANUNGKALIT