Bandung. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) registered relatively unknown party members as candidates for the West Java gubernatorial election just 30 minutes before the midnight deadline on Thursday, following Anies Baswedan's refusal of the nomination.

PDI-P was the last party to submit its gubernatorial nominee and running mate, and the process was far from the usual glamorous ceremony associated with candidate registrations in the country’s most populous province.

Both gubernatorial nominee Jeje Wiradinata and his running mate Ronal Surapradja were absent from the provincial General Election Commission in Bandung due to unexpected developments. Jeje, a PDI-P executive and former regent of Pangandaran, and comedian Ronal, presented their registration statements via video conference on Zoom.

“My nomination came in injury time, and I’m fully aware that my name wasn’t even included in recent polls. But this election isn’t about winning or losing, and I’m committed to carrying out the party’s mandate to the best of my ability,” Jeje said during the video conference.

“This development caught me by surprise as I was attending an event. However, I’m ready to be Mr. Jeje’s running mate for the West Java gubernatorial election,” Ronal added from a separate video screen.

PDI-P initially nominated former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan for the West Java election, but around 10 p.m., his spokesman announced that Anies would not accept the nomination.

This followed an earlier incident earlier this week when Anies requested PDI-P’s support for his reelection bid in Jakarta, but the party opted for its own executives instead.

The media was not informed of PDI-P’s decision to nominate Anies for the West Java gubernatorial election until Thursday afternoon.

Anies was reportedly set to run alongside Ono Surono, head of PDI-P’s West Java chapter, as his running mate. Ono attended the commission’s office to represent the party during the unusual registration process. It remains unclear why Ono was not selected as a nominee after Anies declined to run with PDI-P.