November 29, 2024
JAKARTA – At 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, three hours after the polls closed, voters could already get a sense of the regional election outcome.
And for those who closely watched the state of the race, there was nothing from the quick count results on Wednesday afternoon that came as a surprise.
From the standpoint of the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), the outcome of Wednesday’s balloting may not be a clean sweep, but it was enough for the ruling coalition to take a victory lap, knowing that the balance of power remains tipped in their favor and that there is little not in their control.
The first good news came from Central Java, a key battleground province in this year’s regional elections.
A number of pollsters have projected that former police general Muhammad Luthfi, a candidate nominated by KIM, who won the backing of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, would win the race with 57 percent of the popular vote.
His rival, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. (ret) Andika Perkasa, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), came in distant second with 40 percent.
Andika’s loss in Central Java, a PDI-P stronghold, marked a further setback for the nationalist party, which in February saw its presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo defeated by then defense minister Prabowo Subianto, whose candidacy also won Jokowi’s backing.
In neighboring East Java, KIM could score another victory with its gubernatorial candidate Khofifah Indar Parawansa projected to win the race with 58 percent of the vote, beating PDI-P candidate former social affairs minister Tri Rismaharini, who secured 32 percent of the vote.
In West Java, the ruling coalition led by President Prabowo’s Gerindra Party scored even a bigger win with its gubernatorial candidate Dedi Mulyadi, a former popular mayor of Bekasi, who is projected to bag more than 60 percent of the vote despite running in a crowded race against three opponents in the country’s most heavily populated province.
In Banten province, the formidable political machine of KIM political parties scored a victory that seems unthinkable, beating the scion of one of the most powerful political dynasties in the country.
Quick count results from major polling agencies projected that KIM candidate Andra Soni received 58 percent of the vote, outperforming Airin Rachmi Diany, a former mayor of South Tangerang who is linked to the political dynasty of former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah.
The biggest surprise of course came from the race in Jakarta, where PDI-P candidate Pramono Anung Wibowo ran against KIM candidate Ridwan Kamil.
As of Wednesday evening, some polling firms projected that Pramono would win the election in one round after securing more than 50 percent of the vote. Some other pollsters however put the figure at 49 percent.
Pramono’s win in Jakarta could also be a consolation prize for the PDI-P, which following the loss in the last presidential election, has craved a major executive seat.
Whatever the outcome in Jakarta, it will lead to a favorable situation for the ruling coalition. Even if Pramono ends up as the winner in the event of a second round of balloting, KIM can take comfort in the fact that Pramono is a figure friendly to President Prabowo’s administration.
With these outcomes, President Prabowo will surely have a freer hand to govern in the next five years with his signature policies likely to receive a friendly response from administrations at the regional level.
Results from Wednesday’s regional polls are also an indication of how much clout former president Jokowi still has in Indonesian politics.
And with no major incidents disrupting the polls, we can imagine that everyone is happy with the outcome of Wednesday’s regional elections.