Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan Named Presidential Candidate by Nasdem

TheIndonesia.id - The National Democrat Party (Nasdem) has announced Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, making him the first figure to be declared for the next leadership race.

Nasdem’s leader Surya Paloh announced the appointment of Baswedan on Monday, October 3, and said the decision was based on long deliberation and careful consideration.

“This is why Nasdem chose Anies Rasyid Baswedan. We believe that our thoughts and beliefs, both macro and micro, are in line,” Paloh said, as reported by Antara.

“Why Anies Baswedan? My answer is, ‘why not the best?’” he added.

On the occasion, the leader asked all party members to support Baswedan’s candidacy in order to create a good government.

Baswedan said he accepted the appointment and is ready to bear the responsibilities.

"By asking for Allah's blessing and his guidance, with sincere humility, bismillahirrahmanirrahim, we accept [the decision] and are ready to answer the challenge," said Anies.

Previously, in June, the majority of Nasdem’s regional leadership councils recommended Baswedan to become the candidate for Indonesia’s 2024 presidential election. He came out as one of the top names alongside Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo.

Nasdem Party, meanwhile, was first established in 2011 and is led by politician and media mogul Paloh. In the 2019 general election, the Party won 9.05 percent of the total votes and won 59 out of 575 seats (10.26 percent) in the parliament.

According to the presidential threshold, political parties can nominate presidential candidates if it wins 20 percent of seats or 25 percent of nationally legitimate votes in the previous legislative elections, and based on Nasdem’s result in 2019, it has to form a coalition in order to reach the threshold.