JAKARTA – Professor Siti Zuhro, a senior political observer at LIPI and professor at UMJ, stated that all political parties planning to field candidates in the Jakarta gubernatorial election are still calculating amid the public's fluctuating sentiments. They are seriously considering the electability potential of each candidate who is increasingly being mentioned in the upcoming contest.

"All parties are still weighing their options. They have not yet made a final decision. Especially in Jakarta, no party can nominate a candidate alone due to the need for coalitions. The nomination requirements in the Jakarta election are clear, needing the support of 22 seats in the DPRD. Even PKS, which won the legislative election in Jakarta, only has 18 seats. So, they still need to collaborate with other parties," said Siti Zuhro during a conversation in Jakarta, Sunday afternoon, June 9, 2024.

The uncertainty of public opinion and party stances, Zuhro continued, naturally makes a figure like Anies Baswedan cautious and strategic. He does not want to rush while observing the possibilities and addressing any internal issues among himself and his supporters. "This is why Anies has not yet made a decision. He is observing the stance of political parties first."

"Not only that, the public must also understand that coalitions at the national level, like in the Presidential Election, may not continue or be permanent in local elections. Political parties might switch alliances based on which candidate has the most potential to win. Major parties are also realistic that they cannot win all local elections, so they are determining which regions their candidates must win and which regions are sufficient to just support a candidate," Zuhro stated.

In other words, the coalitions at the national and regional levels do not always align in local elections. This situation is real and has been observed in previous Indonesian local elections. "Here, for instance, there is a statement from PDI Perjuangan that the figure of Anies is interesting to be nominated in the Jakarta election. Of course, this is not a final decision because this party is still considering other candidates and potential coalitions with other parties. PDI Perjuangan is still monitoring the situation."

"However, it cannot be denied that Anies is the most potential candidate if he runs in the Jakarta 2024 gubernatorial election. He already has the capital, having served as governor of Jakarta and having significant support in Jakarta during the 2024 Presidential Election. Moreover, during his tenure as governor, he did not have issues like corruption or others," emphasized Siti Zuhro.

Responding to questions about whether the Jakarta gubernatorial election at the end of 2024 will still be a primary concern for the Indonesian public, Siti Zuhro said this indicates the strategic position of the city for Indonesia cannot be replaced even though its legal status as the national capital has been moved to IKN. Jakarta is apparently ready to be any city because it already has a strong historical foundation and excellent infrastructure as the most important city in Indonesia.

"The position of Jakarta is now even more important because the development of IKN is becoming increasingly unclear. The IKN Law is already in place, but the implementing regulations are not yet available and clearly will take a long time. Various issues have already surfaced related to the development of IKN in East Kalimantan. Given this reality, Jakarta inevitably remains central in Indonesia. Hence, the local election in this city is important," she said.

According to Siti Zuhro, what happened with IKN had already been discussed long ago, for instance in meetings with Bappenas. Even then, Bappenas recommended that the capital could indeed move, but it could not be done abruptly in a short time.

"This matter has been discussed since the beginning of Jokowi's second term, long before the pandemic."

"I have already seen how difficult and time-consuming it is to move the capital. This reflects when Australia moved its capital to Sydney, which took 60 years. Or when Pakistan moved its capital from Karachi, which began in 1960 with help from Britain. Indonesia itself has repeatedly moved the capital from Jakarta, for example, to Yogyakarta for several years, Bukittinggi for about a year, even to Aceh for just a week, or the discourse of moving the capital to Central Kalimantan proposed by Bung Karno earlier. So why does everything eventually return to Jakarta again?" asked Siti Zuhro assertively.