Anies Baswedan Prepares to be President After Stepping Down as Jakarta Governor

Anies' last days as governor was also met with criticism from the PDI-Perjuangan faction in Jakarta regional parliament. According to them, Anies' programs are showing unclear implementations. 

The head of PDI-Perjuangan Faction, Gembong Warsono, pointed out the Mid-Term Regional Development Plans (RPJMD) for 2017-2022. He said there are many unrealized plans. 

"If we see from the RPJMD 2017-2022, there are a lot of promises and programs with unclear realizations, and very terrible performances. It could be said that Mr. Anies is Governor Zero percent who is only beautiful in words and speeches," said Gembong.

PDI-Perjuangan is the national ruling party.

The "zero percent" refers to Anies Baswedan's zero rupiah housing plan. During his gubernatorial campaign, Anies promised that house buyers  would not need to pay down payment, thus it would be easier for them to purchase. 

Gembong pointed out that Anies only managed to build 2,332 units for the zero rupiah, although the original target was more than 200 thousand units.

Gembong also mentioned the failure to build Science Park, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), Park & Ride facility, and Smart Park which has 175 target locations.

On Sunday, Anies Baswedan also met with the elites of Nasdem party. However, Anies is still reluctant to detail his plans as the presidential candidate.

"There will be next steps when we are ready to announce," said Anies. He also explained that the meeting with Nasdem officials was only an ordinary conversation.

Among his potential rivals are the Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani, Minister for Defense Prabowo Subianto, and Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. Another is the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agus Harimukti Yudhoyono (AHY).

Each of them has a strong political basis, Puan with the ruling party PDI-Perjuangan, Prabowo with the Gerindra Party, Airlangga with the Golkar Party, and AHY is backed by the Democratic Party. 

Two other governors are also mentioned as potential presidential candidates: Ridwan Kamil of West Java and Ganjar Pranowo of Middle Java. 

However, Ridwan still has not secured solid political support, although the National Mandate Party (PAN) is reportedly interested in supporting him. Meanwhile, Ganjar is part of PDI-Perjuangan where Puan is effectively in power.

Puan Maharani has started to travel all over countries to meet her supporters. And if Prabowo really joins the 2024 election, that will be his fourth general election as one of the candidates. Previously, he ran for vice president with Megawati Soekarnoputri, and then as president twice, but lost in all of them.

Winda Nelfira, Ahda Bayhaqi, and Delvira Hutabarat contributed to this report.