Even if the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) will not announce the official count until Oct. 3, the result is already known: Joko Widodo has won the election. This victory should boost Prabowo Subianto, one of the first public figures to nominate Joko to run for the Jakarta election.
This does not come as a surprise : Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has convincingly defeated Fauzi “Foke” Bowo-Nachrowi “Nara” Ramli in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. The new governor and deputy governor will be appointed on Oct. 7 and the results should have been confirmed by the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) on Oct 3. Latest polls already depict Joko as the electors’ favourite by far.
Observers say this result shows that common sense can triumph over dirty politics. Indeed, in recent weeks, Foke-Nara’s team and supporters tried to raise issues on ethnicity and religion in order to divide Joko Widodo’s supporters. This strategy has failed. Jakarta’s long history as a “melting pot” of numerous people from various racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds prevent its inhabitants from voting for candidates who are keen to use dirty tactics.
Joko’s election should pave the way for a real change in Indonesian politics. In the perspective of the 2014 presidential election, this result will undoubtedly benefit Prabowo Subianto who is actually currently leading the polls. The former General was one of the first public figures to nominate Joko to run in the Jakarta election. He reportedly spent billions of rupiah to help finance Widodo’s campaign.
Prabowo Subianto also persuaded Megawati Sukarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to endorse this candidate for the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
According to Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting’s latest poll, Prabowo was the most popular presidential candidate at this point among Jakartans, with 19.1 percent of respondents willing to vote for him, followed by Megawati Sukarnoputri and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie with 10.1 percent and 10 percent respectively.
25 percent of voters that would vote for Joko would also choose Prabowo, while only 13 percent would vote for Megawati.
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