A gubernatorial election was held in Jakarta on 11 July 2012, with a second round run-off on 20 September 2012 to elect the governor of Jakarta for the next five-year term.[1] Incumbent governor Fauzi Bowo was running for a second successive term.[2]
The first round resulted with two top-voted candidates, Joko Widodo and Fauzi Bowo to advance to the runoff as neither received majority of votes in the first round. Quick count results released in mass media after the second round voting indicated that Joko Widodo is projected to win the runoff with 54% of popular votes.[3][4] Fauzi Bowo later conceded and congratulated Joko on 17.00 WIB.[5] Official results were announced on 29 September.[6] Widodo won the election with 53.82% of votes against Bowo's 46.18%.
Under regulations, only political parties having 15 seats or more in the regional parliament (DPRD) can put forward a candidate.[7] Political parties with fewer seats can put forward a candidate only if they have acquired support from other political parties. Independent candidates are able to run if they have gathered at least 407,340 signatures from local residents, which will be verified by the local election committee.
Parties endorsing Noerdin and Nur Wahid in the first round later gave their support to Fauzi in the second round.
While the campaign for the elections had been mostly peaceful, there were a wide range of issues carried into the campaign. Notable ones including traffic management, flood control, accusation of money politics by some candidates, electoral roll irregularities, and smear campaign dominated the campaign.[citation needed]
Traffic has long become the main issue for many Jakartans. Traffic jams up to 3–5 hours happens during weekdays rush hour and frustrate many locals. Public transportation was also heavily lamented due to poor service and maintenance. All candidates in the race brought forward this issue and promised various approaches to this problem.[citation needed]