Jakarta Election Goes to Second Round Between Anies and Ahok
All photos by VICE Indonesia staff

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Jakarta election

Jakarta Election Goes to Second Round Between Anies and Ahok

The gubernatorial election played out as expected, with none of the candidates earning enough votes to win it outright in a single election.

The field narrowed to two candidates for the top seat in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday as Anies Baswedan and Basuki Tjahaja Purnama prepared for a head-to-head showdown after none of the candidate pairs were able to grab the required 50 percent of the vote needed to take the governor's office in a single round.

Unofficial quick count results show that the incumbent governor, a man known as Ahok, received the most votes, with 43.13 percent of the ballots cast in his favor. Anies came in second, with 40.16 percent of the vote, while Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono trailed behind in a distant third with 16.72 percent, according to counts by Saiful Muljani Research and Consulting. Quick count results have historically been accurate enough to call an election in Indonesia.

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"The way I see it, a lot of people might be angry at Ahok, but as voters they're angry but they still can judge his performance," Philips Vermonte, the director of Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said of the results.

The atmosphere was jubilant at Ahok's campaign headquarters with the crowd chanting "Dua! Dua! Dua!"—a reference to his number on the ballot. Ahok humbly thanked his supporters as he took the stage shortly after the results came in.

"I remember three-four months ago a survey said that Ahok-Jarot would not fare better than third place, that we would not gain more than 20 percent of the votes, and there's even another survey that says 10 percent," Ahok said in a televised press conference. "But from the quick count so far we could see that we're leading in first place.

"Thank you, we're hoping everyone here wants us win in one round. But whatever happens we should be grateful for the fight. Considering the current condition, we thought nobody would vote for us, but apparently a lot of people still have trust and faith in us."

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

The supporters gathered at the campaign headquarters believe they are in for tight race against Anies in the runoff election.

"I hoped this election would wrapped up in one round," said Reffys Tuhumury, one of Ahok's volunteers.  "But, if it does go to the second round, then we'd have no choice but to work harder supporting Ahok-Jarot until they win. Whatever happens, it's Ahok-Jarot until death."

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It was a strong showing for Ahok, a man who has been dogged by protests over allegations that he committed blasphemy on the campaign trail. His term in office was celebrated as a sign of the country's commitment to the pluralism enshrined in the Pancasila. Ahok is Christian and ethnically Chinese, yet he was in charge of the capital of this Muslim-majority country.

But ethnic tensions rose to the surface during the election and threatened to cast the race is stark sectarian tones. Hardline Islamists successfully made in-roads in communities affected by Ahok's slum clearing policies, shifting an economic situation into a religious issue. Then the blasphemy allegations added fuel to the fire, spreading the anger beyond the slums and drawing hundreds of thousands of Muslims to the streets to demand Ahok's arrest.

Anies Baswedan

Anies, meanwhile, met with the leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI)—a controversial hardline group at the center of the protests—in a bid to secure the conservative Muslim vote. It's a gambit that, to a certain extent, seemed to work. Some Muslim voters told VICE Indonesia staff that while they believed Ahok had done a good job, they planned to vote for Anies because he was Muslim.

Yet, Anies' transformation from an idealistic, moderate Muslim advocating for change to the chosen candidate of hardline Islamists was too much for some. It's enough to leave some experts questioning whether Anies could bounce back if he loses the coming runoff election.

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"Honestly, if he loses he can kiss his political career goodbye," said Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani. "There is no idealism anymore. He's just a run-of-the-mill politician. There is no way he can survive [a loss]."

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono

The race now hinges on who can grab Agus' votes.

"We have to see the data and the demographics of Agus' supporters," Yohanes said. "If Agus' supporters are mostly Muslim, there's a huge chance they will cast a vote for Anies in the runoff. But Agus isn't firmly in either camp. He's a nationalist, but also a Muslim. So we'll have to see."

Agus, the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono enjoyed some early popularity, thanks, in no small part to his family name and good looks. But he quickly dropped in the polls after a series of disastrous debates that highlighted the shortcomings of a campaign that favored flashy stage-dive filled rallies over policy talking points.

"Agus crashed and burned," Yohanes said. "He started really well, he is young, he is handsome, women loved him, but then they started to listen to what he said on television and they were like 'what the hell?' He just lost it in those debates. If he gets another five, ten years in the future, he could maybe do pretty well. But he was just a soldier drafted into this election."

Photo by VICE Indonesia staff

He might get a second chance soon enough. The Jakarta election has taken on a new importance after President Joko Widodo was able to use the office as a stepping stone to the Presidential Palace. Many now see the gubernatorial election as a staging ground for the 2019 presidential race.

"Jakarta's election is important because of the political actors behind every candidate and its impact on a national scale," said Titi Anggrani, the executive director of the voter transparency organization Perludem. "DKI [Jakarta] is the center of political activities in Indonesia."

The runoff election is scheduled for April. There's no way to tell if some of the ugly rhetoric will intensify as the race narrows to two candidates. But at least one expert thinks that continued sectarian or racial attacks won't have much of an impact on the outcome of the election.

"There might be more conflicts but SARA and [similar] issues have already occurred," said Philips, of CSIS. "It won't make a big impact on voters anymore, the voters already know it all."

— With reporting from Adi Renaldi, Bramaseta Janottama, Renaldo Gabriel, and Arzia Tivany Wargadiredja