Jakarta. A prominent Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) figure said Tuesday the party would nominate Anies Baswedan for the Jakarta gubernatorial election if he appoints a party executive as his running mate.

Hidayat Nur Wahid, deputy chairman of PKS’s advisory council, said that in the previous election, the party gave unconditional support to Anies, who teamed up with Sandiaga Uno, then an executive of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). The pair went on to win the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

However, that won’t be the case for the upcoming gubernatorial election.

"If political parties in the coalition want Anies to become the candidate and he is approved by our leadership board, PKS will certainly propose its cadre to become the vice-gubernatorial candidate," Hidayat said at PKS headquarters in Jakarta.

"During the last election, PKS supported Anies’ candidacy, but the running mate was from a different party. How can we go down the same path again? PKS is more than capable of providing a qualified running mate," added the former speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly.

On the same occasion, PKS Chairman Ahmad Syaikhu revealed that Anies is not the sole candidate being discussed internally.

PKS is open to nominating former West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil for the Jakarta election under a similar condition.

"We are establishing communication with other parties and reviewing their offers. We have yet to reach a final decision due to the dynamics of the situation," Syaikhu said.

Indonesia will hold simultaneous polls to elect governors, regents, and mayors in 38 provinces and more than 500 regencies and cities on November 27.

PKS was also part of a three-party coalition that supported Anies in the February presidential election, where he lost to Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto.

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