Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The political machines of candidates contesting the Jakarta gubernatorial election will play a crucial role in determining their fate as the Feb.15 D-day approaches, an analyst says.
According to political analyst Ubedillah Badrun from the Jakarta State University (UNJ), only a few political parties are actually working although all had declared support for their preferred pair.
"As far as I have observed, political machines that have functioned well include the PDI-P [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle], Gerindra and PKS [Prosperous Justice Party]," Ubedillah said during the release of a recent study by Jakarta-based PT Grup Riset Potensial (GRP) in Jakarta on Monday.
GRP's study revealed that the Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni pair would win if the election took place today with 46.4 percent of votes, leaving Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno in second place with 20.9 percent of votes, while the incumbent Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat would come in third with 20.4 percent.
Ubedillah cited the level of support for Ahok-Djarot as an example, attributing their poor polling to underperforming political parties. "Those that have endorsed Ahok-Djarot don't work well. It is clear that their support is divided," he said.
Besides the ruling PDI-P, the Ahok-Djarot ticket has also been endorsed by the Golkar Party, the Nasdem Party and the Hanura Party. Meanwhile, Agus-Sylvi supporters include the Democratic Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), while supporters of the Anies-Sandi ticket include the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).