TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Functional Group (Golkar) Party chairman Setya Novanto personally handed over a letter declaring the party’s support for Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil to run as a candidate in the upcoming West Java Gubernatorial Election.

“I, as the chairman of the Central Executive Board of the Functional Group Party, handed over a decision letter declaring support for Ridwan Kamil as a governor [candidate] and Daniel Mutaqien as a deputy governor candidate for the West Java Gubernatorial election,” Setya said in Jakarta on Thursday, November 9.

Earlier, a letter declaring support for Ridwan Kamil from Golkar went viral. Golkar secretary general Idrus Marham said that the letter was fake since it was not dated and officially stamped.

Ridwan Kamil currently serves as the Bandung Mayor and Daniel is a member of Commission V of the House of Representatives from Golkar. Daniel is also the son of former Indramayu Regent M. S. Syafiuddin or Yance. The Indramayu Regent seat is currently occupied by Daniel’s mother Anna Sophana.

A number of Golkar’s politicians attended the letter handover ceremony, including Golkar general treasurer Robert Jope Kardinal, House of Representatives’ Budgetary Board head Aziz Syamsudin, and Golkar senior politician M. S. Hidayat. Meanwhile, Dedi Mulyadi, chairman of the West Java branch of the Golkar Party and Ridwan Kamil’s rival in the election, was absent from the occasion.

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI