Jakarta to choose new governor in first test for President Prabowo

JAKARTA Voters in the Indonesian capital choose their next governor on November 27, in a first test for President Prabowo Subianto after he takes office in October.

The election pits Mr. Prabowos's candidate, former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, against the opposition candidate, former Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, for control of a metropolis that accounts for about a fifth of the country's economic production.

Whoever wins will face a range of challenges, including traffic jams, pollution and the fact that the city of more than 11 million people is literally sinking.

The new governor could even preside over a defining moment in Jakarta's history, when it abandons its duties as the seat of Indonesia's government in favor of a new city being built in the rainforests of Borneo, more than 1,200 km away from there.

The role is a true career-maker in Indonesia, a springboard to becoming president of the archipelago that spans three time zones and more than 17,000 islands.

The race remains wide open. The latest opinion poll shows Mr Ridwan behind Mr Pramono for the first time, but around a quarter of voters have not yet decided who they will choose.

A runoff is likely, with neither of the two leading candidates expected to obtain more than 50 percent of the vote. The first results are expected from 3 p.m.

The Jakarta poll is the most important local election taking place in 37 provinces in Indonesia.

It is also one of the first opportunities for voters to express their support for Mr Prabowo, after he became Indonesia's eighth president in late October following a landslide victory in February's election.

Mr. Prabowo, an ally of his predecessor Joko Widodo, is seeking to further consolidate power after forming a coalition government that controls around 80 percent of seats in the national parliament.

The former general has set ambitious targets, ranging from 8 per cent annual growth over the next few years to implementing a US$30 billion (S$40.4 billion) free meals program ) for schoolchildren.

Control of the island of Java, of which Jakarta is the largest city, is the key to the success of these policies, since more than half of the country's population lives there.

If Mr. Prabowos' candidates lose in Jakarta and Central Java, investors may sell Indonesian stocks, according to Mr. Lionel Priyadi, a macrostrategist at Mega Capital Indonesia, a Jakarta-based brokerage.

Failures could make the implementation of Mr. Prabowos' programs more complicated due to stronger political resistance, Mr. Priyadi said.

Foreign investors withdrew about $1.5 billion from Indonesian stock and bond markets after Donald Trump won the U.S. election on a campaign that included a promise to impose across-the-board tariffs.

The rupiah fell about 1.5 percent against the dollar in November, while the benchmark Jakarta Composite Equity Index lost about 4 percent.

Mr. Prabowo's predecessor, Mr. Widodo, better known as Jokowi, served as governor of Jakarta for two years before becoming president in 2014.

Mr Jokowi then sought to move the capital to Borneo and rename it Nusantara, as part of his legacy and to redistribute wealth across the sprawling archipelago.

But the multi-billion dollar project remains a work in progress, with most transport links and buildings far from complete. Mr Prabowo pledged to complete the project, saying he wants the main facilities in Nusantara to be completed within the next four years.

In recent weeks, candidates for the post of governor of Jakarta have presented their vision of the megacity which remains an economic power in Southeast Asia.

Mr Prabowos' candidate, Mr Ridwan, has promised to cut red tape to attract investors, build a Disneyland off the Jakarta coast and continue land reclamation projects.

Mr. Pramono, backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, pledged to invest in training Jakarta's workforce, launch a $3 billion fund to finance projects in the city and advance plans to build a giant dike.

Jakarta's systems already work, but whoever wins, the challenge will be to improve quality, said MD Nicky Fahrizal, a researcher at the Jakarta-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Jakarta may be as busy as New York, but will it be comfortable? Or will Jakarta have clean air like Singapore? BLOOMBERG