Vice presidential candidate Sandiaga Uno officially stepped down from his post as Jakarta vice governor on August 10 after he was announced as Gerindra Chairman Prabowo Subianto’s running mate in next April’s presidential election, but the businessman only delivered his farewell speech yesterday afternoon.
Speaking during a parliamentary session at the Jakarta City Council (DPRD), Sandiaga expressed his gratitude to the Jakarta Provincial Government as well as the DPRD for his brief tenure as vice governor, which lasted only 10 months.
“I have announced my resignation from vice governor so that my nomination in the 2019 presidential election won’t be burdened. I also want to say thank you and sorry. Those in City Hall and DPRD will remain in my heart,” Sandiaga said, as quoted by Viva.
Sandiaga’s route to VP candidacy was marred with controversy. He was accused of paying IDR1 trillion (US$70 million) in “political dowry” to parties in the opposition coalition to secure his nomination. The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) said they would investigate the accusation, but have yet to question the former vice governor directly.
The Jakarta vice governor position has been vacant for 18 days and Governor Anies Baswedan has not given any indication that Sandiaga’s replacement will be picked soon. Gerindra’s coalition, which won the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, have the right to choose Jakarta’s new vice governor.
One of the names strongly linked with the post is former West Java Governor and PKS politician Ahmad Heryawan, popularly known as Aher. However, the Home Ministry all but ruled out his eligibility for the job as it would violate regional election laws.
