Jakarta – A private secretary to First Lady Iriana has announced his candidacy for mayor of Bogor, West Java, to fill the seat vacated by incumbent Bima Arya Sugiarto, who is not eligible to run for a third term.
Thirty-five-year-old Sendi Ferdiansyah made the announcement on Monday after meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the Presidential Palace.
Sendi said that during the meeting, he briefed the President on the preparations he had made for the mayoral election, providing results from public opinion polls and political campaign efforts.
"He [the President] responded well to my reports. He has given guidance and support to me, and those were important capital for me," Sendi said in a statement.
Earlier, Sendi said the First Lady had also given him the green light to run for mayor.
Sendi has served as Iriana's private secretary since 2015 and has traveled extensively with the First Lady.
He also has been part of Indonesia's delegations to a number of international events, from G20 summits to ASEAN meetings.
So far, two other politicians have declared their intention to run for mayor of Bogor: Dedie Rachim of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Jenal Mutaqin of the Gerindra Party.
A number of people in President Jokowi's inner circle have been tapped to run in local elections scheduled for November of this year, including his son Kaesang Pangarep, who may run for governor of Central Java, and his daughter-in-law Erina Gudono, who was approached by the Gerindra Party to run for regent of Sleman, Yogyakarta.