Lenny Tristia Tambun & Ronna Nirmala – While six candidates are vying to become Jakarta's next governor, the rivalry between incumbent Fauzi Bowo and Solo Mayor Joko Widodo seems to have turned the election into a two-horse race, with both sides engaging in a war of words recently.

Fauzi's supporters on Friday were quick to attack Joko, popularly known as Jokowi, for saying that some politicians and bureaucrats wear Muslim robes just to get sympathy from voters.

Two groups backing Fauzi, the Betawi Cultural Institute (LKB) and the Betawi Youth Forum (FPB), demanded that Jokowi apologize for his statement, which the LKB's chairman said had offended Islam and Betawi people.

"He should clarify his statement and apologize to Betawi people," Tatang Hidayat said. "Baju koko [Muslim robes] have a positive impact on those who wear them. It's strange that a candidate for Jakarta governor doesn't know the meaning of the outfit to Betawi people."

Jokowi told local media in Solo on Friday that his remarks were taken out of context, saying he chose to wear checkered shirts to distinguish himself from other bureaucrats who only wear the Islamic outfits.

Jokowi said he never meant to undermine those who wear them or to attack his opponents in the gubernatorial race.

Ridwan Saidi, a senior Betawi figure, defended Jokowi, saying the Solo mayor did not need to apologize because he had not offended anybody. "The outfit has nothing to do with Betawi or Islam," he said.

He said baju koko originated from Chinese attire and that the Malay adopted it after the Chinese migrated to the archipelago. "Everybody wears this outfit, regardless of if you're a Muslim or not, or Betawi or not," he said.

Fauzi is backed by the ruling Democratic Party and several smaller parties, while Jokowi is backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

Fauzi refused to comment on Jokowi's statement. "Let Jakarta residents give their comment," he said. "I don't want to comment because he had certain goals with his statement. If he wasn't running for governor, I probably would have said something."

Previously, Fauzi claimed education standards in the capital are higher than in Solo, in a broadside aimed squarely at Jokowi. He said on Wednesday that Jakarta's primary schools had a 100 percent graduation rate last year, while the city's junior and senior high schools had a 99 percent rate.

Jokowi's spokesman Maringan Pangaribuan questioned Fauzi's claim, saying that if Jokowi's record on education was so poor, "why has he been nominated for the 2012 World Mayor Prize over the Jakarta governor?"