Jakarta – A group of people claiming to be former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan volunteers, under the banner of Pejuang Anies (Anies Warriors), declared their support for Jakarta governor and deputy governor candidates Pramono Anung and Rano Karno at the Hariston Hotel in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, on Sunday.
"We will sincerely carry out our duties as the winning team at the district and sub-district levels, and as TPS [polling station] coordinators, Pejuang Anies for Mas Pram [Pramono] and Bang Doel [Rano Karno]," volunteer coordinator Taufan Ichsan said during the event, as quoted by kompas.com.
Pramono, currently serving as cabinet secretary, and Rano, former Banten vice governor and actor, are running on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) ticket.
Taufan also emphasized that the volunteers were prepared to oversee the vote-counting process for Pramono and Rano on election day. They plan to document the results at each TPS using photos and videos.
"We are ready and able to safeguard and oversee the votes of Pram and Doel on the voting day until the release of the C1 form [record of the vote tally] and the minutes at the TPS," said Taufan.
Pramono has expressed confidence that support from Anies volunteers will be instrumental in his campaign. He said he had no doubt they would help him win the governorship of Jakarta for the 2024-2029 period.
He added that he witnessed himself how the volunteers had fought to help Anies win the 2017 gubernatorial election.
"Thank God, today [their support] is for me. So, this additional energy makes me more optimistic," said Pramono.
However, political observer Ujang Komarudin from Al Azhar University noted that while backing from specific groups like Anies volunteers was valuable, it did not guarantee victory in the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
"The support [for Jakarta gubernatorial candidates] does not guarantee [victory]," Ujang said on Sunday.
"Jakarta has many different segments of society. Everything is in the context of democracy, one man one vote, one person one vote."
Ujang acknowledged that the number of Anies supporters in Jakarta was quite large, however they supported other candidate pairs as well.
"To guarantee victory, all candidate pairs must secure votes from all segments of the society," he said.
In addition to the Pramono-Rano pair which is No. 3 on the ballot paper, the other candidate pairs are Ridwan Kamil and Suswono, who are No. 1 on the ballot paper, and No. 2 independents Dharma Pongrekun and Kun Wardana.
Ridwan is a former West Java governor and a member of president-elect Prabowo Subianto's election campaign team representing the Golkar Party. Suswono is a former agriculture minister representing the Prosperous Justice Party.
Ridwan-Suswono is running on the Indonesia Forward Coalition (KIM), which backed Prabowo in February's presidential election.