Feb. 28, p3

Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo brought along his deputy, Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama, on his regular blusukan for the first time, fueling speculation that Jokowi was prepping Ahok for the governor job should Jokowi run for president and presumably win.

The governor has made blusukan (the Javanese term for an impromptu visit) his trademark, but it was a new experience for Ahok, who spends most of his time at the office. As a result, according to Ahok'€™s personal assistant, a number of meetings scheduled for Thursday had to be pushed back.

The leaders, accompanied by a number of high-ranking officials, left the office at around 10 a.m. and inspected a number of city projects, including the kampung deret (village of row houses) in Petogogan, South Jakarta, and the Ciplak and Cipayung markets in East Jakarta.

Your comments:

I like the part where Ahok says: '€œHe was tired, traffic everywhere.'€ Since the major floods a couple of weeks ago, the road has been badly affected with lots of potholes that makes it seem like we'€™ve been hit by meteorites. At Gembrong Market, the road is so bad that every day during peak traffic hour, the traffic tails back to Kota Kasablanka mall.

The opposite way is the same. The Kampung Melayu roadwork, which seems to be taking forever, looks like a failed project. The main issue is the Gembrong Market underpass that could be repaired in a day. Has the city administration really looked into this matter? It'€™s causing 1,000s of motorists trouble.

I really hope this issue is looked at instead of only focusing on high-class areas in Jakarta.

Ashton Wolveridge

Hopefully, Jokowi is not afraid of Megawati. He should only be afraid of God.

People love you Pak Jokowi. If Megawati doesn'€™t allow you to be a presidential candidate, you could run for the post via an independent route.

In this democratic era, nobody should force anybody to follow his or her wishes. I think what happened in Surabaya recently was a sort of force.

Force is haram in Islam. Go ahead Pak Jokowi, people in every corner of this republic hope that you become a hopeful in the 2014 presidential race. If you have good intentions, God will always be with you. We'€™re fed up with the promises of kings who only end up breaking these promises.

Its time for wong cilik (common people) to be the rulers. Why not support Jokowi?

As Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad told us, Jokowi has never been a corrupt leader. Jokowi really is '€œMr. Clean'€. Let'€™s trust him this time!

The most important thing for him now is bravery. Be brave Jokowi and we will support you. We will vote for you on Election Day. We'€™re confident you will be able to lead this country successfully. The way in which you go about your work as governor of Jakarta indicates you can be successful.

Syarwan

Imagine what would happen if Jokowi and Ahok ran as independents? If Jokowi distanced himself from the old guard, there would be no limit to the support he would gain.

The fact that he was elected governor shows that people are ready for someone to stand up against the old establishment.

Ian Thomson

I believe Jokowi and Ahok would achieve much better results if they could perform blusukan silently by wandering around the kampung in plainclothes or, if necessary, undercover.

They must come without prior notice, avoid all protocols, avoid meetings with kampung authorities and avoid ceremonies and media coverage.

Then they would be able to collect the most objective and genuine firsthand information on the situation. Better still, if they could delegate blusukan to team members consisting of independent volunteers, they would have an even better opportunity to see and understand the real problems the public faces.

For the next blusukan, I propose that Jokowi or Ahok take public transport alone, without bodyguards, during peak traffic hours from Jl. Sudirman to any destination. Then they will feel the frustration of ordinary people who cannot afford to buy cars but who must go through this experience every day. This happens every single day before our eyes.

Robby Kaware

The purpose of blusukan is for Jokowi to prepare Ahok to replace him if he is finally nominated by the PDI-P as a presidential candidate.

Bravo

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