'No Need for Partying' as Jokowi Looks Set to Win Jakarta's Governorship

Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) and his running mate Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok). (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)

Solo Mayor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo beat out incumbent Governor Fauzi Bowo in Thursday’s runoff vote, according to unofficial quick count results released by independent polling agencies.

Joko netted between 53 and 54 percent of the vote in the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff race, winning in every voting district except Thousand Islands. Fauzi trailed with 46 to 47 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary results.

The race pitted the Solo mayor against the Democratic Party-backed incumbent in what was predicted to be a close race. The two candidates aggressively campaigned ahead of the runoff vote, with Joko promising reform and Fauzi boasting of his accomplishments leading the capital.

In the end, Jakarta’s voters favored the newcomer.

Joko thanked his campaign team and his supporters during a Thursday afternoon press conference outside his Menteng campaign headquarters.

“I wish for all of your support,” he said. “Let’s work our best for a better Jakarta.”

He urged Jakarta residents to help him build a “new Jakarta,” before shaking hands with the cheering crowd as Queen’s “We Are the Champions” played over loudspeakers.

Joko told reporters that the incumbent had called to congratulate him over the phone.

The presumed governor-elect also encouraged his supporters to keep any inclination toward rowdiness in check.

“No need for partying, you can thank God for this victory in each of your own neighborhoods,” he said.

He added that while awaiting the official results from the KPU, he would visit a number of kampungs in Jakarta that had invited him to come during the campaign period but which he hadn’t had time yet to visit.

Fauzi, meanwhile, told a press conference later on Thursday that he trusted and respected the quick count results showing victory for his opponent.

“While waiting for the official count results from the KPU [General Elections Commission], we extend congratulations to Pair No. 3 [Jokowi-Ahok] and hope that they can do well the tasks that Jakartans have entrusted them with,” Fauzi said.

“Let’s support the result of this democratic process. I call on people to maintain peace,” he added. “The September 20 victory belongs to residents of Jakarta.”

The Jakarta office of the KPU is scheduled to announce the official runoff election results on Oct. 3, and the new governor and deputy governor of Jakarta will be inaugurated on Oct. 6.

The race has been seen as a barometer for Indonesia’s 2014 presidential election.

Parties led by Prabowo Subianto and Megawati Sukarnoputri threw their support behind Joko, while Fauzi secured the backing of Aburizal Bakrie’s Golkar Party and the ruling Democratic Party.