JAKARTA. As expectations, Jakarta gubernatorial election will continue to the second round. Out of the three pair candidates, the pair candidates number 1 Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni failed to contest in the second round.
The pair candidates number 2 Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Syaiful Hidayat and the pair candidates number 3 Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno will contest in the second round.
Observer at Charta Politika Yunarto Wijaya said, the competition in the second round will be tight, as both candidates draw strength. Results of the quick counts of several survey institutes show that the number of votes for the pair candidates number 2 and 3 were not much different.
The results of quick counts conducted by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) show that Ahok (Basuki Tjahaja Purnama)-Sandi gained 43.22% of votes, while Anies-Sandi and Agus-Sylvi secured 39.91% and 16.68%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the results of Charta Politika’s quick count revealed that Ahok-Djarot, Anies-Sandi, and Agus-Sylvi secured 43.75%, 39.28%, and 16.79% of votes, respectively.
Observer at the Indonesia Science Institute (LIPI) Ikrar Nusa Bhakti added, both pair candidates that go to the second round have almost equal chances. Let alone, during the previous gubernatorial election, none of contestants could secure as much as 60% of votes.
According to Ikrar, results of the quick counts imply that the primordial matters related to the ethnicity, religion, and identity issues did not bring significant impacts to the number of votes. It is proven that the pair candidates number 2 could secure significant supports. “This reflects that Jakarta’s public are the rational voters,” he told KONTAN, Wednesday (15/2).
Convincing the voters
According to political observer at LIPI Siti Zuhro said that each pair of candidate will have equal chance to get votes. In this case, the pair candidates number 1 and 3 relied on the Muslims voters. However, those Muslims voters do not necessarily shift their supports to the pair candidates number 3. “It depends on the mood of voters and the strategies of the two pair candidates in getting votes in the second round,” she said.
Therefore, the candidates should be able to convince the masses to vote for them. Both candidates should have real program to develop Jakarta to attract the voters.
Meanwhile, each of pair candidates has drawbacks. The pair candidates number 2 are facing some issues related to primordial matters and legal case involving Ahok. On the other hand, the pair candidates number 3 lack of real implementation plan of their visions and missions. (Muhammad Farid/Translator)
