IDNAround – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan will part ways with his deputy Ahmad Riza Patria after their tenure ends later this month and both may find themselves in opposing camps during the 2024 presidential election.
The deputy governor said on Tuesday he won’t vote for Anies, who was nominated for president by the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) a day earlier.
“If you ask me who I will vote for, my certain answer is Prabowo Subianto. He is my boss and my chairman,” Riza said.
Prabowo, currently the defense minister, was nominated by his Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) last month to run for president for the third time.
“My party has earlier confirmed Prabowo’s candidacy in recent party leaders’ gathering,” Riza added.
Gerindra appointed Riza as Jakarta deputy governor in 2018 to replace fellow party member Sandiaga Uno who resigned to join the 2019 presidential election as Prabowo’s running mate.
Gerindra has teamed up with the National Awakening Party (PKB) to meet the threshold of 20 percent of House of Representatives seats to get Prabowo on the ballot.
However, the month-old coalition suddenly stood on shaky ground after PKB Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar discussed a possible partnership with the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for the 2024 election during a recent meeting with House Speaker Puan Maharani.
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