Former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan is close to becoming declared a presidential nominee after three major political parties backed him for Indonesia’s top office.
Three parties, including the Democratic Party led by the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, have thrown their support behind Anies, 53. Their support represents 163 seats or more than 20% of the parliament’s total.
The constitution rules that aspiring presidential candidates must be backed by political parties or coalitions who won at least 20% of seats or 25% of votes in the previous election.
With Anies one step closer to a nomination, the ruling Democratic Party of Struggle or PDI-P may find itself under greater pressure to declare a candidate.
Speculation is rife that PDI-P, of which President Joko Widodo is a member, is deciding between Puan Maharani or the more popular Ganjar Pranowo, the Central Java governor who is seen as Jokowi’s preferred successor.
Maharani is the current speaker of parliament and daughter of party leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Aside from Anies, current Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto — who lost to Jokowi in the last two elections — is also planning to contest, with polls to be held in February next year. Prabowo has support from his own Gerindra party to run and is in talks to get backing from National Awakening Party, which would secure him more than 20% of parliament seats.
Prabowo, Ganjar and Anies have polled among the top three most popular candidates.
In a speech at a gathering organised by the Democratic Party, Anies called for “quality growth” that improves economic equality and protects the environment rather than causing more damage to it.
Anies started in academics, becoming Indonesia’s youngest university rector at 38 years old before kicking off his political career by winning the Jakarta gubernatorial race in 2017. The academic-turned-politician is known for efforts to improve Jakarta’s infrastructure and public transportation.
Investors will be watching to see if a new administration will continue Jokowi’s vision of moving the capital city from Jakarta to Borneo in a test of the country’s economic ambitions. The first phase of the $34-billion project is due to be completed by August 2024, in conjunction with the 79th year of independence from Dutch colonial rule.
Anies on Thursday pledged to continue with the project if he wins a 2024 election. A law had been passed by parliament to build Nusantara, as the new capital is known, so whoever wins the presidency must see it through, he said.
“The new capital city is not only an idea. This has become a law and all of us, when being inaugurated for any position, our vow is to implement the law,” he said.
Jokowi announced the project in 2019, arguing that Jakarta was congested and sinking.
But Nusantara has faced some problems, including delays due to the pandemic and doubt among some investors that Jokowi’s successor would stick with it.
The Indonesian Centre for Strategic and International Studies last year found nearly 59% of 170 experts it interviewed were unsure Nusantara would materialise, citing uncertainty about funding and management.
Jokowi hopes to rely mainly on private funding for the capital, with 20% from state coffers.