Anies Baswedan saw an outpouring of support for his reelection bid as Jakarta governor in the 2024 regional head elections, when hundreds of people turned up last week in rallies at the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in the city, calling on the parties to back the former presidential candidate.
A group of Anies supporters held a rally on Tuesday at the PDI-P's Central Jakarta headquarters in Menteng, urging the party to back the former governor through their shared values and goals to avoid uncontested elections in November.
"We hope we can move forward together [with the PDI-P] in the regional elections," the group's spokesperson Bien Benyamin said on Tuesday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
"Our wish is to propose Pak [Mr.] Anies [as a candidate], but it's up to the PDI-P when it comes to his running mate," he added.
PDI-P executive Djarot Saiful Hidayat met with representatives of the group and promised to convey their message to party chair Megawati Soekarnoputri. He also told the group of Anies supporters that the party would be open to collaborating with it because of their shared values.
A similar rally was held on Sunday at the PKS headquarters in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. The group urged the Islamic-based party to continue to support Anies as it did in the general election in February, when it won the most votes in Jakarta legislative polls.