Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Jakarta governor candidate Anies Baswedan followed the Javanese tradition of sungkem (paying respect) to his mother and two parents-in-law before casting his vote in the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election here on Wednesday.

Baswedan, his wife Fery Farhati Ganis, and family members, took turns to follow the sungkem tradition of paying respect to their parents at his residence on Jalan Lebak Bulus Dalam II No. 42, Cilandak Barat, South Jakarta.

Before heading to the polling station, Baswedan and his family members took the opportunity to perform the after daybreak "Duha" prayers.

The Jakarta governor candidate, his wife, and their eldest son Mutiara Annisa Baswedan were scheduled to cast their votes at Polling Station No. 28 on Jalan Haji Nasiin, Lebak Bulus II RT 06 RW 04 Cilandak Barat, South Jakarta.

The Jakarta Regional Election Commission had decided that the two pairs of Jakarta governor candidates -- Basuki Purnama (Ahok)-Djarot Hidayat and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno-- will contest in the second round of the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Ahok is the incumbent Jakarta governor, while Hidayat is the incumbent deputy governor.

The runoff was held after no candidate pair managed to gain a majority in the first round of the Jakarta regional head election held on Feb 15, which was contested by three candidate pairs.

The three candidate pairs that took part in the Feb 15 election were Agus Harimurti-Sylviana Murni, Ahok-Hidayat, and Baswedan-Uno.

In the first round of the election, Harimurti, who is the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, received the least number of votes.

The Ahok and Baswedan pairs are contesting in the runoff election to decide the winner of the Jakarta gubernatorial election for the next five-year period from 2017 to 2022.

A total of 7.2 million eligible voters in Jakarta are expected to cast their votes in the Jakarta runoff election on Wednesday.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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