Jakarta Gubernatorial Election: Anies Baswedan Eyeing Option to Join Political Party

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan is considering joining a political party that will ease his path to run in the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election. 

Anies has been a non-party actor both during his term as Jakarta Governor in 2017 to 2022 and during his presidential candidacy in Indonesia’s February election. 

Anies did not dismiss the idea when asked about his chance of joining a party. However, he stopped short of mentioning which parties he considered joining. 

“We’ll see,” he said on Thursday, August 8, 2024. 

Several parties are backing Anies Baswedan’s move to re-run in the gubernatorial election in Jakarta, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and NasDem Party. PKS has been hoping Anies would run alongside its cadre, Sohibul Iman. 

However, Anies and the two parties have not officially announced a coalition. The former Education Minister could potentially fail to run in the Jakarta election if the coalition doesn’t move forward. A coalition must fulfill a threshold of 20 percent seats in the Regional Legislative Council to nominate a candidate in the regional election.

The recommendation for Anies to join a political party was previously proposed by PKS’ Jakarta Regional Council Chief Khoirudin. "Anies Baswedan most likely has to don another party’s jacket to form a two-party coalition which will be enough to register (in Jakarta election’s candidacy),” he said on Wednesday, August 7.

SULTAN ABDURRAHMAN

Editor’s Choice: Anies Baswedan Has Not Yet Discussed Deputy Governor Candidate

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