Jakarta. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) on Thursday denied ever considering Anies Baswedan as a candidate for the Jakarta gubernatorial election, clarifying that he was never the party’s nominee.

PDI-P spokesman Chico Hakim said Anies did not align with the party's ideological stance, and PDI-P prioritizes its own members for key electoral districts, including Jakarta.

"We cannot say that we canceled or dropped Anies’ candidacy because he was never nominated by our party in the first place," Chico said in Jakarta.

Following a recent Constitutional Court ruling that lowered the parliamentary threshold for nominating candidates, PDI-P became eligible to contest the election without forming a coalition. This opened the door for several prominent figures, including Anies, to express interest in running under the party's banner.

However, PDI-P Chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri ultimately chose Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung as the party’s gubernatorial candidate, with former Banten Governor Rano Karno as his running mate.

"The nominations were given to two loyal party members, which is standard practice in a party built on strong internal solidarity," Chico added.

Earlier this week, several media outlets incorrectly reported that PDI-P would be announcing Anies as its candidate, citing comments from party executive Said Abdullah.