Candidates for Mayor of Banda Aceh Emerge, Who is the Most Eligible Figure?

Apart from that figure, political parties have also prepared their best cadres to become candidates for mayor. Figures who do not receive tickets from the party will compete through independent channels.

Also read: The Enthusiasm of Acehnese Citizens to Participate in the 2024 Election

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has put forward several names, including the Chairman of the Banda Aceh Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD), Farid Nyak Umar, and member of the Indonesian Parliament, Nasir Djamil.

Meanwhile, the Nasdem Party will nominate Heri Julius who currently serves as the Head of the Nasdem DPD in Banda Aceh as well as a member of the Banda Aceh Regional Legislative Council (DPRD). Meanwhile, the Democratic Party will nominate Arief Fadhilah, a member of the elected Aceh DPRD from 2024 to 2029. As for Golkar, they will nominate Sabri Badrudin, a member of the Banda Aceh DPRD.

Contacted on Thursday (25/4/2024), Irwan Djohan stated that the 2024 regional elections are his last chance to run for office, both in terms of age and the political situation momentum.

"My current age is 53 years old. If I were to wait for the next term, I would no longer be a suitable age. The mayor should be young and have a creative spirit," said Irwan.

Irwan Djohan is a popular figure in Banda Aceh. In 2012, he was once an independent candidate for mayor, but he lost. His political career continued as he was elected as a member of the Aceh Regional People's Representative Council for two terms, 2014-2024, through the Nasdem Party. Currently, he serves as the Secretary of the Nasdem Aceh Advisory Council.

In the 2024 election, Irwan Djohan will no longer run as a legislative candidate because he wants to become a mayor. As an architecture graduate, Irwan feels that he is suitable to become a mayor. "My background in architecture is something that is needed in urban development and planning," said Irwan.

Nevertheless, Irwan's step towards becoming a candidate for mayor is not easy. Because, he has not yet obtained permission from his party, Nasdem. Irwan is still waiting for approval from the party or building communication with other parties. "If both options do not find a common ground, I will proceed through independent channels," said Irwan.

Also read: Banda Aceh's Efforts to Become a Child-Friendly City

The registration for the candidacy of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Banda Aceh will be open from August 27th to August 28th, 2024. The announcement of the candidate pairs will be made on September 22nd, 2024, and the voting will take place on November 27th, 2024.

Another candidate who has declared his candidacy in the Banda Aceh Regional Election is Zainal Arifin, Deputy Mayor of Banda Aceh for the 2017-2022 period. Zainal, who currently does not have a party, will use the individual route. In fact, Zainal has started collecting copies of identity cards as a condition for registering prospective candidates.

Meanwhile, political parties are also not staying silent. The PKS party, as the winner in the 2024 elections in Banda Aceh, has prepared several names as candidates. One of them is Farid Nyak Umar, Chairman of the PKS Provincial Executive Board in Banda Aceh and Chairman of the Banda Aceh Regional People's Representative Council for 2019-2024. In the 2024 elections, Farid was re-elected as a member of the council for 2024-2029.

Chairman of the Selection Team for Mayoral Candidates from PKS, Zulfikar Abdullah, said that there were eight names of candidates for mayor of Banda Aceh. However, Farid is the most popular figure because he is chairman of the party's DPD and chairman of the DPRD.

"The proposed candidate names for PKS members and officials, and the team will continue to work so that a number of names will be recommended to be conveyed to the regional level," said Zulfikar.

The 2024 election results in Banda Aceh showed that PKS emerged as the party with the most votes. The election results became a great asset for PKS to capture the position of the mayor.

Capital

Political lecturer from Abulyatama University in Aceh Besar, Usman Lamreueng, highlights the importance of political capital for candidates. In addition to popularity, candidates need to have cultural capital, social capital, and equally important, economic capital.

The lobbying process in determining candidates will be intense because four political parties with seats in the regional people's representative council (DPRD) have met the requirements to form a full faction and can nominate candidates without coalition. These four parties with full factions are PKS, Nasdem, PAN, and Democrat. However, it is unlikely that these parties will nominate a package without a coalition.

Also read: Coffee Shops, the Economic Wheel of Banda Aceh

Lamreueng emphasized that candidates need to have clear ideas and visions for the future development of Banda Aceh. The city needs a technocratic mayor figure who is capable of building an Islamic and modern city.

Our hope is for a selective selection of candidates based on their ideas, competence, and vision for development. We don't want to see candidates without clear ideas and relying solely on popularity.

In the context of candidate nominations, Lamreueng highlights the role of dominant political parties such as PAN, Demokrat, and Nasdem. Although all four parties are able to nominate candidates for mayor, support from other parties is also important in forming a coalition.

"Our hope is for a selective candidate selection process that considers ideas, competency, and development vision. We do not want to see candidates without clear ideas and solely relying on popularity," said Usman.

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