Anies Rasyid Baswedan is an Indonesian academic, activist, and politician who currently serves as the Governor of Jakarta. A student activist and political analyst before entering public service, he served as rector of Paramadina University before being appointed to be Minister of Education and Culture in Joko Widodo administration. He is the founder of Indonesia Mengajar, a program that selects, trains, and assign university graduates to serve in a one-year teaching mission across the country.
On May 2007, Baswedan was appointed as rector of Paramadina University, a private university in Jakarta. He succeeded Nurcholish Madjid, a prominent liberal Muslim intellectual who had served as rector since its founding in 1998. As rector, Baswedan established Paramadina Fellowship and included anti-corruption education in the core curriculum, first of its kind in the country. Baswedan rose to national prominence in 2009 when he initiated Indonesia Mengajar, a nationwide program that selects, trains, and assign university graduates to serve in a one-year teaching mission across the country. The program was established in response of unequal quality of education in Indonesia, particularly in the poor and rural parts of the archipelago. Baswedan remained in the leadership until 2013, when he resigned in order to pursue his political career.
Public service
Politically, Baswedan had been an independent during early years of his career. He moderated the first debate of 2009 presidential election. He also served in several capacities during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration. Baswedan served as official spokesperson for the so-called "Team of Eight", which was appointed by President Yudhoyono to oversee the infamous public feud between Corruption Eradication Commission and National Police, which saw two of the commissioners were criminally charged. On December 2011, he also served in a panel to select potential members of the General Election Commission. In 2010, alongside prominent figures like Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta and former Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafi'i Maarif, Baswedan co-founded Nasional Demokrat, a mass organization. He left soon after it was declared a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh. Nasdem went to win legislative seats in the 2014 legislative election, becoming part of the Widodo coalition.
Joko Widodo presidential campaign
After his failed presidential bid, Baswedan joined Joko Widodo presidential campaign as official spokesperson. Widodo, a fellow Gadjah Mada graduate, was said to believe that his presence would gather votes from Indonesian youth voters, a demographic closely affiliated with Baswedan. After Widodo's victory on July 2014, Baswedan was appointed to manage the presidential transition office, led by Rini Soemarno. He helped the formation of the cabinet, working alongside Hasto Kristiyanto, Andi Widjajanto, and Akbar Faizal; all but Kristiyanto eventually became Cabinet ministers.
After the election win, Baswedan emerged as the front runner as the Minister of Education and Culture. On 27 October 2014 he was inaugurated to take the office. On 27 July 2016 he was replaced from his post as Ministry of Education and Culture by Muhadjir Effendy.
Governor of Jakarta
He entered in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections, with Sandiaga Uno as his running mate. In the first round of voting on 15 February 2017, Baswedan secured passage to the second round run-off between two candidates, having secured approximately 40% of the vote, behind Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the acting governor, with 44%, and well ahead of Agus with 16%. On 19 April 2017 Baswedan won the runoff election, with approximately 58% of the votes, ahead of Ahok's 42%. He was officially inaugurated as governor on 16 October 2017, replacing Djarot Saiful Hidayat. In November 2017, he claimed that congestion in the Tanah Abang district was caused by pedestrians, instead of due to the street vendors conducting business on the area's sidewalks and roads. The city administration followed through by closing a 400-meter road stretch for traffic in order to accommodate the street vendors, against criticism from pedestrians, public transport drivers and regular vendors. Although some observers noted that the move might be a violation of national regulations, the street vendors and some city officials praised the move. Baswedan in 2019 initiated a school meal program for Jakarta's schoolchildren, starting with 144,000 students in 459 schools that year.
Achievements
US magazine Foreign Policy named him as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world in May 2008 and the World Economic Forum included him in the 2009 Young Global Leaders. In April 2010, the Japanese magazine Foresight, a Tokyo-based international affairs magazine, published a special report entitled: 20 Persons 20 Years. This report lists 20 persons to be watched in the next 20 years, Baswedan is included in that list along with names such as Vladimir Putin, David Miliband, Hugo Chávez, and Rahul Gandhi. He is the only person from Southeast Asia included in this list. In July 2010, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan listed him in the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world. In November 2010, PASIAD of Turkey granted Baswedan the PASIAN Education Award for his roles in advancing education in rural areas of Indonesia. With Baswedan on the helm, Jakarta also received the "honorable mention" award from Sustainable Transport Award.
Controversies
During his tenure as Governor of Jakarta, Baswedan attracted numerous controversies for his public statements. In 2018, he stated that water from rainfall must be returned to Earth, as the Lord wills, instead of being flowed out to the sea. He echoed similar remarks during his campaign for governorship on 2017. His policies regarding building permits on reclaimed land on the north of Jakarta and demolishing slums without permits have run contrary to his campaign promises in 2017. He also gained more controversy due to the mistake city officials made during the budgeting process, resulting in highly inflated prices such as Aibon glue that costs around 82 billion rupiah. During his tenure, the city gave an award to Colosseum Club 1001, a nightclub in Kuningan, Jakarta. This award is later revoked when it was found that the club had numerous issues with drugs and narcotics.
Works
Baswedan’s publications include “Political Islam in Indonesia: Present and Future Trajectory,” Asian Survey, a Bimonthly Review of Contemporary Asian Affairs published by University of California, Berkeley, Indonesian Politics in 2007: The Presidency, Local Elections and The Future of Democracy published by BIES, Australian National University and numerous op-ed articles in leading newspapers and magazines in Indonesia.
Family
He is married and lives in Jakarta. His grandfather, AR Baswedan, was a Minister of Information during the revolution and one of the founding fathers of Indonesia. He has four children: Mutiara, Mikail, Kaisar and Ismail.
