SBY Supports Anies-Sandi to Lead Jakarta in Today's History, June 25, 2017

Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno during the 2017 DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. (ANTARA)

History today, 10 years ago, June 25, 2017, the General Chair of the Democratic Party, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) fully supports Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno to lead Jakarta. SBY revealed that the challenge of leading Jakarta in the future is indeed heavy, but SBY will intervene to help.

Previously, no one doubted the hot tension in the 2017 DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. The political contest then brought together Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) against Anies Baswedan. A fierce fight between the two camps was presented.

Efforts to seize the seat of Governor and Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta are never quiet. Many national figures who have a great interest are involved in the DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election. The narrative is because those who lead Jakarta have a great opportunity to achieve high popularity compared to other regional heads.

All of this is because the political drama of the Indonesian Capital often gets more attention from the mass media. The uniqueness of the same narrative was present in the 2017 DKI Jakarta Regional Election. At that time, two strong candidates were ready to fight.

They are Ahok and Anies. Both big names are considered to have their own supporters. Ahok is advancing the campaign jargon of Hard Work, Hard Work, while Anies has the jargon of Jakarta Together.

The two then continued to spread campaign promises. However, the election politics went too far. Ahok in his journey was stuck in a blasphemy case. This condition made Anies who then paired up with Sandiaga Uno rather than profit.

Those who used to want to choose Ahok crossed over to choose Anies. Support from national political figures to Anies-Sandi is abundant. This step made Anies-Sandi win the DKI Jakarta gubernatorial election in the second round. As a result, Anies-Sandi officially became the Governor and Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta.

"Anies-Sandi succeeded in launching a very sectarian identity campaign, including (with a call for prejudice) in houses of worship, which is prone to triggering horizontal and vertical conflicts (because Ahok's former partner later became President). Populism is indeed consciously adopted and launched at the expense of minority groups in order to gain a seat of power," Poltak Partogi Nainggolan explained in the book Transition and the End of Democratic Consolidation After Soeharto (2021).

Anies-Sandi's victory was greeted with cheers. Many of the national political figures joined in congratulating Anies-Sandi. Take the example of SBY. The President of Indonesia in the 2004-2014 era congratulated Anies-Sandi on June 25, 2017.

SBY not only gave his congratulations, he also did not forget to provide support and help if needed when Anies-Sandi started leading Jakarta. SBY revealed that Anies-Sandi would be able to lead Jakarta even though the challenges ahead would be difficult.

"In the future it is indeed difficult, yes. But everything can be done. We support," said SBY at his residence as quoted by lamandetik.com, June 25, 2017.