# Nakafa Framework: LLM

URL: /en/articles/politics/kim-plus-empty-box
Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nakafaai/nakafa.com/refs/heads/main/packages/contents/articles/politics/kim-plus-empty-box/en.mdx

Output docs content for large language models.

---

import { ElectabilityChart } from "./chart";

export const metadata = {
  title:
    "Afraid of Facing an Empty Box, KIM Plus Creates an Independent Candidate Scenario?",
  description: "Trapped and tricked in Jakarta's political dynamics.",
  authors: [
    {
      name: "Shifna Zihdatal Haq",
    },
  ],
  date: "10/27/2024",
};

## Electability Doesn't Guarantee, Political Interests Take Priority

Jakarta, as a barometer of democracy for other regions, is under the spotlight ahead of the 2024 Governor Election,
with several aspects highlighting the dynamic nature of its political landscape. Political maneuvers for the 2024
Regional Election have been noticeable since the 2024 General Election. The prospective candidates who were
expected to compete in this contest turned out not to match the expectations and the surveys that had been discussed.
Based on a survey (INDIKATOR, 2024), the leading candidate for Jakarta Governor in the 2024 Regional Election
is Anies Baswedan, with 39.7% of the votes. He is followed by Ahok with 23.8%, and Ridwan Kamil with 13.1%.
However, as of August 19, 2024, only Ridwan Kamil has been officially declared as a candidate for Jakarta Governor, paired with Suswono.

<ElectabilityChart
  title="Electability of Candidates for Governor in Jakarta Election Simulation"
  description="Survey for Jakarta governor candidates (%)."
  footnote="Anies Baswedan has a survey result more than 3 times higher than Ridwan Kamil."
/>

The fate of Anies Baswedan as the candidate with the highest electability is predicted to be canceled in the
contest of the Jakarta Governor Election. This speculation arose after the plenary meeting on August 18, 2024,
where the Jakarta KPU (General Elections Commission) decided that Dharma Pongrekun-Kun Wardana Abyoto met
the support requirements to run in the 2024 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election as an independent candidate.
This decision has raised many questions among the people of Jakarta and has sparked concerns regarding
allegations of identity card (KTP) fraud by the independent candidate pair Dharma Pongrekun-Kun Wardana
in their bid to run for Jakarta Governor. What is being planned here?

## 12 Political Parties Form a Coalition: What Are Their Motives?

The Indonesia Maju Plus Coalition (KIM Plus) has officially endorsed Ridwan Kamil and Suswono in the
upcoming Jakarta Governor Election. With the support of 12 political parties, this coalition provides
significant strength to the Ridwan Kamil-Suswono gubernatorial ticket (Metro TV, 2024a). The consolidation
of political parties behind this candidate pair raises questions about the true motives behind this alliance.

Looking back to June 24, 2024, the Chairman of the Jakarta Regional Leadership Council of the Prosperous
Justice Party (DPW PKS), Khoirudin, officially proposed Anies Baswedan's candidacy for the 2024 Jakarta
Regional Head Election in a live broadcast on PKS's YouTube channel (PKSTV, 2024). However, the emergence
of Suswono as Ridwan Kamil's running mate in this gubernatorial election, signals that PKS has shifted
its support away from Anies Baswedan and has officially joined the strong KIM Plus coalition.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) secured the highest percentage of seats in the Jakarta Regional
Election, which, according to Ahmad Riza Patria (Chairman of the Jakarta DPD Gerindra Party), granted
PKS the right to choose the vice governor as Ridwan Kamil's running mate after joining the KIM Plus coalition.
This opportunity allowed PKS to nominate one of its cadres, Suswono, to play a crucial role in the 2024
Jakarta Governor Election. PKS is expected to significantly strengthen the KIM Plus coalition. The nomination
of Suswono marks the end of PKS's support for Anies Baswedan in this contest.

Political analyst Ray Rangkuti, during the "Panggung Demokrasi" broadcast, also discussed the emergence
of Suswono. Suswono's candidacy effectively sidelined Kaesang, who was previously rumored to be Ridwan Kamil's
running mate in Jakarta. As a PKS cadre, Suswono is seen as the most effective candidate for rallying
support from PKS's base, which holds the most seats in the DPR and is capable of drawing substantial
backing into the KIM Plus coalition (Metro TV, 2024b).

Another intriguing aspect of this coalition is the involvement of the National Awakening Party (PKB).
According to the Secretary of the PKB Pilkada Desk, joining KIM Plus was a realistic choice for
participating in the 2024 Regional Election. With only 10 legislative seats, PKB was unable to independently
nominate a candidate of its own. Speculation about tensions between PBNU and PKB also played a role
in PKB's decision to join this coalition. However, this was firmly denied, with the official explanation
being that PKB's merger into the coalition was driven by the strong potential for Ridwan Kamil and
Suswono to win in the 2024 Governor Election.

In June 2024, the Jakarta Regional Leadership Council (DPW) of the National Awakening Party (PKB)
officially declared its support for Anies Baswedan as the top candidate for the Jakarta gubernatorial race.
On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, Hasbiallah Ilyas, the Chairman of DPW PKB Jakarta, announced this decision
live from the party’s office in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta. However, PKB soon faced a critical moment
in its political strategy when it decided to join the Koalisi Indonesia Maju (KIM) Plus, along with
eleven other parties, to support Ridwan Kamil and Suswono for governor and deputy governor of Jakarta (Bustomi, 2024).

Before aligning with KIM Plus, PKB had already endorsed Anies Baswedan as the gubernatorial candidate
for Jakarta, even being the first party to make this endorsement. However, after the Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) and the Nasdem Party, which had previously supported Anies, joined KIM Plus, PKB’s stance shifted.
Yahya Staquf, the General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), criticized PKB under Muhaimin Iskandar’s
leadership for frequently changing its decisions. PBNU views PKB as inconsistent and accuses it of not
involving its scholars in decision-making (Septiana, 2024).

Previously, PKB and PBNU had been linked with various issues, and their conflict has intensified.
The two groups have engaged in verbal attacks through social media and mass media. Muhammad Rodli Kaelani,
Secretary-General of the National Coordinating Council of Garda Bangsa, reported that current PBNU
leaders are trying to seize control of PKB, which is led by Muhaimin Iskandar, also known as Cak Imin.
Accusations include attempts to take over PKB by forming a special committee (Pansus PKB) and political
motivations behind the Hajj Special Committee initiated by the DPR, aimed at removing Yahya’s brother,
Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, from his position as Minister of Religious Affairs (Amin, 2024). This sudden shift
in PKB's political direction towards KIM Plus seems to align with the broader power struggle between
PKB and PBNU, drawing increased public scrutiny on the ongoing issues between the two factions.

## The Puppet Candidate Scenario, Dharma-Kun: "We Acted Before the Presidential Election Was Won”

The term "puppet candidate" has been applied to the pair Dharma Pongrekun-Kun Wardana Abyoto
by several parties. The empty box option, which was anticipated to be a rival to Ridwan Kamil
in the Jakarta Governor Election, disappeared after the Jakarta KPU officially confirmed their candidacy.
Dharma Pongrekun himself refuted the puppet candidate label, stating that his declaration to run
as Jakarta Governor was made long before the 2024 Presidential Election. February 3, 2024,
was recorded as the day Dharma Pongrekun declared his candidacy for the 2024 Jakarta Governor Election,
well before the Presidential Election on February 14 (Nasution, 2024).

On the other hand, some argue that the independent Dharma-Kun candidacy is part of a strategy by
certain parties to prevent an uncontested election against the political party-backed gubernatorial
and vice-gubernatorial candidates who would later register. This was observed by Rat Rangkuti on
the "Panggung Demokrasi" broadcast on August 19, 2024, where he noted that the independent candidate
is not seen as a threat by Ridwan Kamil and his coalition. The real threats to Ridwan Kamil were
Anies Baswedan, Ahok, and the empty box option. Consequently, Anies was unable to run since PKS, PKB,
and Nasdem joined the KIM Plus coalition. Additionally, PDIP was unable to nominate its candidate
due to the 25 percent candidacy threshold for regional head elections through political parties
or coalitions, which hindered them from nominating Ahok, who was expected to be a candidate for
Jakarta Governor and Deputy Governor.

Regarding the empty box option, Ray Rangkuti also pointed out that it was seen as a threat by the
KIM Plus coalition because it would allow voters the option not to choose Ridwan Kamil in the 2024
gubernatorial election. Therefore, the emergence of an independent candidate was viewed as a
divisive tactic. The independent candidate is suspected to be part of a certain agenda because
data shows that independent candidates are not included in the surveys compared to other more
popular names for Jakarta Governor. This suggests that, electorally, they are still far below
Ridwan Kamil, making the likelihood of choosing an independent candidate very low, with their
electability not even reaching 1% despite meeting the necessary qualifications (Metro TV, 2024b).

## Investigation into ID Card Misuse in the Endorsement of Independent Candidates

On August 16, 2024, allegations emerged regarding the misuse of NIKs (Indonesian ID numbers) without
permission by several Jakarta residents who were listed as supporters of the Dharma Pongrekun-Kun
Wardana pair. Some of these individuals claimed they did not even know the candidates and were
suddenly registered as supporters of the independent candidate. Even more bizarre was the
involvement of the child of former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, who also fell victim to
this ID card collection scheme to support Dharma-Kun. This was revealed by Anies Baswedan through
his personal X/Twitter account. In addition to his child, the NIKs of Anies’ sibling and a colleague
from his work team were also found among the list of supporters for the independent candidate
Dharma Pongrekun-Kun Wardana (Nur, 2024).

The volunteer team of the independent candidates defended themselves by stating that the reported
ID misuse involved less than 1% of the total support they received, and they remained confident about
their qualifications for the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election. However, some members of the
public raised concerns about the police’s rejection of complaints from individuals who felt wronged
by this unauthorized use of their ID cards. According to the Director of Special Criminal Investigation
at the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Commissioner Ade Safri Simanjuntak, such complaints must
first receive a recommendation from the Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Agency) before an investigation
can proceed. If a criminal element is found, the police will then follow up on the case. As of now,
the reports filed are still under investigation by Bawaslu (Maharso, 2024).
