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n ungracious, ungrateful politician is the image portrayed of Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama by his former party, Gerindra, which was founded by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

On Wednesday, Ahok presented his resignation letter to the party, whose officials reminded everyone that it was thanks to Gerindra'€™s backing that Ahok became deputy governor to the capital, and its governor in a month or two, replacing president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

Prabowo also said Ahok had not had the grace to face him personally to bid farewell. Ahok had said a day earlier that he was considering resigning from Gerindra, the leader of the Red-and-White Coalition that will dominate the future House of Representatives and many provincial and local legislative councils. The trigger for Ahok'€™s decision was the coalition'€™s move to end direct local elections in the ongoing deliberation of the regional election bill.

Ahok does indeed look ungrateful and ungracious '€” however, respectful politicians are not exactly what people are looking for nowadays. What citizens want is that their regional leaders deliver the public services they are entitled to.

Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil also knows that he is popular not because he was championed by the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) '€” a main ally of Gerindra that helped Prabowo top the poll in West Java '€” but because of his efforts in improving the chaotic and once-pretty provincial capital.

This seems to be the reason why Ridwan called on all mayors and regents on Thursday to rally together around Jakarta'€™s Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to protest the coalition'€™s decision to push for indirect local elections. Ahok and Ridwan are both being egged on by much of the mainstream media ahead of the last days of the current House'€™s tenure when the law could be passed.

We are witnessing a tug-of-war between the people'€™s power and political party leaders, who have yet to present a solid voice. For instance, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would not want to be marked as the president who ended the nation'€™s democracy by bringing back the indirect elections of the Soeharto years.

However, his Democratic Party is part of the Gerindra-led coalition, which Yudhoyono said would be a '€œbalancing'€ force in the new legislature.

Since the first direct local elections almost a decade ago, things have not become automatically better for voters, as Ahok noted. Yet citizens have discovered the power of their votes, regardless of all the efforts at bribing them '€” the vote-buying that is part of the excesses of direct elections, which its opponents seek to end. Ahok and other local leaders sense where the power is shifting to; '€œI won'€™t be a slave of the local legislative council, but a slave of the people,'€ Ahok said.

Amid frequent rifts, political parties are trying to show their credibility and consistency regarding their rules. But as a recent survey suggested, the parties are not representing the needs of many, who do not need political parties ending citizens'€™ power of choosing their own leaders.