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Deputy Governor Prijanto has become the latest person to reveal his intention to vie for the Jakarta governor’s seat in next year’s polls, saying there needs to be a change in how the city is run.

“I’m not waiting to be nominated [by a party] or being proactive,” he said on Saturday. “It’s about my having the desire to do this. I’m putting myself forward so that the people believe in me.”

Prijanto conceded there was much that needed to be fixed in Jakarta, most notably traffic and flooding, and said the solution called for greater cooperation between the city administration and the central government.

For instance, he continued, the way the government issued policies and released funding for traffic-alleviation schemes was too slow, citing the cases of much-anticipated government regulations still pending for the mass rapid transit rail line and the electronic road-pricing scheme.

He also said the administration of Governor Fauzi Bowo was just as guilty of not acting quickly enough in response to pressing issues. “Everyone’s got their part to play in addressing the issues facing the city,” Prijanto said.

Another problem the former military general highlighted was the lack of enforcement of traffic regulations, despite repeated threats by the authorities to come down hard on offenders.

“Imagine how much better the situation would be if something as simple as traffic lights and signs were enforced,” he said.

However, he added that was contingent largely on a high level of public discipline — something he acknowledged was lacking on Jakarta’s streets.

“The solution to the traffic problem is a combination of discipline and effective leadership. All sides have to work together to make it work,” he said.

In a veiled barb at the incumbent Fauzi, Prijanto stressed that a governor should have the courage to “change the development paradigm.”

“A governor should never set himself up as a ruler, but as a leader,” he said, adding that it was this haughty attitude that could hamper coordination with the central government.

“A ruler works for himself, a leader works for the people,” Prijanto said.

He also announced he would release a book next month “for people who want to be governor, so that they get an idea of how things work in the bureaucracy.” However, he denied the as-yet-unnamed book on the “ideal governor” was linked to his own bid for the post, saying he wrote it long before he decided to throw his hat into the ring.

The deputy also said he had already garnered the backing of a political party but declined to identify which one. He has previously been linked with the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Party support will give Prijanto something that Fauzi lacks. The incumbent could end up running as an independent candidate in next year’s election after the Democratic Party, of which he is a member, yanked its support for him. The party is instead widely expected to back Nachrowi Ramli, the head of its Jakarta branch.

Prijanto’s announcement comes a week after Bambang Dwi Hartono, the Surabaya deputy mayor, announced his bid for the top job in Jakarta.

Others in the running are Priya Ramadhani, the head of the Golkar Party’s Jakarta branch, and city councilor Wanda Hamidah, who is backed by the National Mandate Party (PAN). Two candidates have announced independent bids: economist Faisal Basri and Basuki Purnama, a Golkar legislator and the former head of East Belitung district in Bangka-Belitung.