Even though National Narcotics Agency (BNN) head Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso is not on the list of potential candidates proposed by the Gerindra Party's selection team for Jakarta's gubernatorial election, a senior party official put his name forward prior to the official announcement scheduled for this month.
A few months ago, Gerindra's selection team came up with three names proposed to the party's chairman, Prabowo Subianto, who reportedly will announce his selected governor candidate this month. They are businessman Sandiaga Uno, former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and former deputy defense minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
However, the party's deputy chairman, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, recently proposed Budi for consideration.
Sufmi even suggested Budi could be paired with Sandiaga Uno as governor and deputy governor candidate, respectively, as he believed they had the capacity to lead Jakarta. "Budi is a firm and clean leader, while Sandi aga masters the economy," he said.
Sufmi said there had been intense discussions within Gerindra — among factions, supporters and allies — that eventually led to Budi's name being put forward.
Gerindra recruitment team chief Syarif applauded Sufmi's proposal, saying that both Budi and Sandiaga had the prominence to build a solid foundation as Jakarta's leaders.
"They are worth considering. Budi is firm, polite and compassionate, not to mention his track record at BNN and as National Police criminal investigation chief. Sandiaga, on the other hand, will apply his expertise in business for Jakarta citizens," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Should the two be nominated as the Gerindra's candidate pair, they would likely run against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and Heru Budi Hartono, who are still undecided about sticking to the initial plan of running as independent candidate or through a party ticket.
Ahok has se cured both options since his volunteer group Teman Ahok last month announced it had collected 1 million vote pledges, far more than the required 530,000 signatures. Ahok also has the backing of 24 seats in the City Council, two more than required for a candidate to run on a party ticket. Ten of those seats are from Hanura, nine from Golkar and five from Nasdem.
Last month, Gerindra and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) announced their plan to form a coalition to jointly nominate a gubernatorial ticket for Jakarta's 2017 election.
As the second-largest party, Gerindra has 15 seats in the City Council, while the PKS, the third-largest party, has 11.
Sufmi said Gerindra was also looking into a possible coalition with the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the United Development Party (PPP) or the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Registrations of governor and deputy governor candidates, both independent or party-backed, will be accepted from Sept. 19 to 21.< /p>
As for Gerindra's gubernatorial candidate, Syarif said it all depended on the party's chairman. "Sufmi's proposal [on Budi Waseso] is appreciated, but Prabowo has the final say," Syarif said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political expert Ikrar Nusa Bhakti agreed that Budi had a good track record during his work at the police and BNN, but being the governor of a city like Jakarta "requires more than that".
"Jakarta is a city with many complicated issues and various types of citizens. It will not be easy for Budi," Ikrar said.
"Years of experience in handling regional issues is important for the governor. I do not think Budi has such experience. No matter how controversial Ahok is, he had experience as a regent before coming to the capital," he added.
Another political expert, Syamsuddin Haris said Budi, Sandiaga, Yusril and Sjafrie were still below Ahok in terms of electability.
"No popularity and elect ability is achieved in such a short time. A lot of time needs to be invested. I think Budi's name is still quite foreign to the public. Even Sandiaga is more popular," he said. (adt)
Source: Gerindra vacillates on Jakarta governor candidate
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