Adisti Sukma Sawitri and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The decision by the majority of political parties in Jakarta to support current Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo in August's gubernatorial election is not without consequences, say analysts.

The Joint Coalition of 17 parties announced Thursday that it was backing Fauzi, or Foke, a nickname the deputy governor picked up during his university years in Germany.

This announcement could result in a head-to-head battle between Fauzi and former National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. (ret) Adang Daradjatun, who is backed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

While some people may believe it is better to have just two candidates in the gubernatorial election, Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) executive director Hadar Navis Gumay said having too few candidates could result in low voter turnout because of the lack of options.

"People might feel reluctant to lend their support since both candidates were little known before massive public relations campaigns over the past year," he said.

He said election hype would only reverberate among political parties and their most fervent supporters, as well as in the media, if their were only two candidates in the race.

Both Fauzi and Adang have appeared frequently in public advertisements and in the media over the past year, but never introduced themselves as governor hopefuls.

Another political analyst and the rector of Jakarta's State Islamic University, Komaruddin Hidayat, said the Joint Coalition backing Fauzi was set up to counter the extensive political network of the PKS in Jakarta.

"Those parties in the coalition don't feel so happy about it, but they think they have no other choice if they want to win the election," he said.

Komaruddin also warned that the decision by political parties to support candidates with little grassroots support would create a "pseudo-government" that would act only on the needs of the parties instead of the voters.

There are now only six parties in the capital that have yet to name their candidates for the election, including the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Another governor hopeful, legislator Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who had been hoping to receive the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) before it joined the Joint Coalition, said he would explore the possibility of forming a coalition from these six remaining parties.

"We are still building a platform for a new coalition," he said. The chairman of the PDI-P advisory council, Taufik Kiemas, who is also the husband of party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, said the PDI-P decided to nominate Fauzi because of his experience in dealing with Jakarta's two chronic problems of flooding and traffic.

"The party has received assurances from the candidate (Fauzi) and an explanation from him on how as governor he will solve these chronic problems," he said, declining to share the explanation.

However, PDI-P secretary-general Pramono Anung said the party was backing Fauzi because he was seen as the candidate with the best chance of winning the election.

Since 2005, when direct gubernatorial elections first started being held in the country, the PDI-P has backed the winning candidate in 8 of 15 races. "We have great expectations for winning the election in Jakarta," he said.