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Jakarta Post

Jokowi hopes to resign in August

President-elect and Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said he would submit his letter of resignation as Jakarta governor to the home minister sometime in August

Sita W. Dewi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 25, 2014

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Jokowi hopes to resign in August

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resident-elect and Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has said he would submit his letter of resignation as Jakarta governor to the home minister sometime in August.

'€œ[I plan to submit a resignation letter] in August,'€ he told reporters after a plenary session at City Council on Wednesday, declining to elaborate on the details.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) declared Jokowi as the winner of the 2014 presidential election with a total vote of 70,997,833, or 53.15 percent. Meanwhile, rival candidate Prabowo Subianto and running mate Hatta Rajasa had garnered 62,576,444 votes, or 46.85 percent.

The Prabowo-Hatta camp, however, has said the ticket would challenge the results before the Constitutional Court, citing alleged fraud and lack of transparency in the process as justifications. The ticket should file its lawsuit with the court by 9:05 p.m. on Friday at the very latest and the court has 14 working days to conduct hearings and issue a ruling. The president-elect is slated to be inaugurated on Oct. 20.

City Council speaker Ferrial Sofyan said Jokowi could only submit his resignation letter after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a letter appointing Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama as new Jakarta governor, replacing Jokowi, as it is stipulated in the 2004 regional administration law.

'€œThe letter should be issued before Oct. 21,'€ Ferrial said.

He added that the City Council would appoint a new deputy governor before the inauguration of the new governor.

'€œWe will inaugurate the new governor and deputy governor together. It does not make sense to inaugurate the new governor and deputy governor separately,'€ he said.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party, the coalition that nominated the Jokowi-Ahok ticket during the 2012 gubernatorial election, will propose two deputy governor candidates. It has not yet been settled, however, whether the two candidates would represent both parties, or represent only the PDI-P.

Gerindra Jakarta chapter chairman Muhammad Taufik said both Gerindra and the PDI-P should propose names.

'€œBoth parties should just propose names. PDI-P can propose several names '€” that is their political right, but we also have the right to approve or disapprove it,'€ he said.

Boy Sadikin, chairman of the PDI-P'€™s Jakarta branch of the regional executive board and son of former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin, has been touted as one potential candidate for deputy governor. Other potential candidates whose names have been circulating among media staff include Djarot Saiful Hidayat, former mayor of Blitar, East Java, Bambang DH, former mayor of Surabaya, East Java, and Muhammad Taufik, chairman of Gerindra'€™s Jakarta branch of the regional executive board.

Ahok said he wanted a deputy who would complement his working style and character, he being known as an outspoken and unpretentious leader.

'€œMy deputy should be a person who is a populist, corruption-free, cool, honest and able to calm my temper,'€ he said.

Ahok, who is a former East Belitung regent, said he would prefer someone who has had experience leading a province or a city, rather than a career politician or lawmaker.

He rejected recent speculation that suggested he might join forces with Surabaya'€™s mayor, Tri '€œRisma'€ Rismaharini, saying he considered Risma as having a similar character to his.

Ahok, however, said there was a possibility he would run the city without a deputy.

'€œIf Gerindra and PDI-P didn'€™t agree with the candidates proposed by each other and the City Council could not vote for new deputy, I might finish my tenure without a deputy,'€ he said, adding that '€œI am ready for that. The city administration already has [echelon-II] deputies anyway.'€

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