Running as an independent, his nomination as a presidential candidate was announced on Feb. 25, 2023, backed by the Coalition of Change for Unity (KPP), an electoral alliance led by the NasDem Party. He registered his candidacy on Oct. 19, 2023.

What is his background?

Anies was born on May 7, 1969 in Kuningan, West Java, to a family of academics. His father Rasyid Baswedan was a lecturer at the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), while his mother Aliyah Rasyid was a professor of social and economic sciences at Yogyakarta State University (UNY).

Anies’s paternal grandfather Abdurrahman Baswedan was a prominent Arab-Indonesian activist, journalist and diplomat who served as a deputy minister during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949).

He is also the cousin of former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan, who was injured in a politically motivated acid attack in 2017.

Anies earned his political science doctorate in 2005 from Northern Illinois University. He has a master of public policy from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and a business management degree from UGM.

He married UGM classmate Fery Farhati Ganis on May 11, 1996. The couple has four children.

What does he stand for?

Anies’ popularity rose when he was elected in 2007 as the rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta. At 37, he was one of the youngest university rectors in the country. During his tenure, Anies initiated Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia teaches), a program that selected, trained and sent university graduates on a one-year teaching mission in remote areas across the country.

As an academic, Anies moderated one of the presidential debates in 2009. He was also one of 45 public figures who backed the establishment of the National Democrats mass organization in 2010, before he eventually distanced himself from the group after its transformation into the NasDem Party.

Anies’ foray into national politics began in 2013, when he registered as a candidate in the Democratic Party Convention for selecting the party’s 2014 presidential nominee. After losing to state-owned enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan, Anies joined as a spokesman of the campaign team of presidential candidate Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

For his efforts, Jokowi appointed Anies as the education minister upon winning the 2014 race. After serving in the post for 20 months, however, Anies was replaced in July 2016 by Muhadjir Effendy of Muhammadiyah. No clear reason was given publicly, but it was reported at the time that Anies had fallen out of favor with the President over his own political ambitions.

Backed by Islamic conservatives grouped in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the nationalist Gerindra Party, Anies contested the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election with businessman Sandiaga Uno as his deputy on an independent platform.

Anies won the Jakarta governorship after his rival, incumbent governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, became embroiled in a blasphemy scandal, and was eventually convicted and sentenced to two years in prison less than a month after the election. Anies was accused of fueling a wave of Islamic zealotry while on the campaign trail to defeat Ahok, a minority Chinese Christian.

The bitter and highly divisive Jakarta race deepened the wedge between Anies and Jokowi, as Ahok was Jokowi’s running mate in 2012 and handpicked successor as Jakarta governor.

Anies has since been widely considered as the "antithesis" to Jokowi, and his Jakarta governorship was marred by political attacks from pro-government parties.

Shortly before his gubernatorial term ended in October 2022, NasDem declared it was backing Anies as an independent in the 2024 presidential election. In September 2023, the NasDem-led KPP announced Anies’s running mate as Muhaimin Iskandar, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), an Islamist party.

What does he bring to the table?

According to his official wealth report (LHKPN) on Feb. 9, 2023, Anies has Rp 11.1 billion (US$ 716,000) on the books.

During his five years as Jakarta governor, Anies was by and large deemed successful in leading the city through the COVID-19 health crisis. He also focused on improving the city’s public transit system, which led him to winning several international awards. Anies also halted projects that involved the forced evictions of residents, such as Ahok’s river normalization program.

Other prominent programs Anies championed included the construction of the Jakarta International Stadium (JIS), Jakarta’s hosting the Formula E electric car tournament, expansion of bicycle lanes and the revamp of pedestrian walkways, and the “zero down” home ownership policy.

In May 2008, US magazine Foreign Policy included Anies on its list of top 100 public intellectuals in the world, while the World Economic Forum included him on its 2009 Young Global Leaders list.

In April 2010, Anies was named in the 20 Persons, 20 Years issue of Japanese international affairs magazine Foresight. In July that year, he was recognized by Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center as among the world’s 500 Most Influential Muslims. In November 2010, Anies was bestowed the education award from Turkey’s PASIAD Foundation for his efforts in developing education in rural parts of Indonesia.

In 2021, Anies was named a 2021 Transportation Hero by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), a German-backed global initiative that promotes sustainable urban transportation. TUMI recognized Anies for “creating fair, affordable and inclusive transportation for all” and providing “steady transit improvements” amid scarce resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite his many accolades, Anies is criticized at home for his lackluster efforts in addressing Jakarta’s perennial problems, such as the lack of affordable housing, worsening air pollution and chronic flooding.

A 2022 survey by the Populi Center found that 86 percent of Jakarta’s residents were satisfied with Anies’ leadership, but another survey conducted that same year by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) showed that 51 percent of expert respondents familiar with the city’s issues were dissatisfied with Anies’ performance as governor.