J

akarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama will rise to governor replacing Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, who will be inaugurated as the republic'€™s seventh president, on Monday.

Because his promotion is constitutional, those who loathe him simply because he is of Chinese descent and a Christian, such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), will have to bow to the supremacy of the law and give way.

Even though Jokowi officially resigned on Thursday, Ahok remains acting governor and, until he is sworn in, he is not able to make strategic decisions, such as signing a bylaw or starting a major development project.

 Forget about the lingering opposition from some fanatical groups with the apparent backing of politicians who worry that Ahok'€™s governorship will jeopardize their business and political interests. The burning issue is who Ahok will pick as his deputy, or whether he will prefer to do without a deputy if the candidates fielded by political parties are not to his liking.

The battle for the number-two position has stalled since Ahok rejected two candidates proposed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party, the two political organizations that successfully nominated the Jokowi-Ahok ticket in the 2012 gubernatorial race.

Ahok has good reason for his reluctance to consider Boy Sadikin, a senior PDI-P politician, since Boy was from the outset critical of the Jokowi-Ahok candidacy. While Muhammad Taufik, whom Gerindra has proposed, was convicted of graft in 2006 and has openly sought Ahok'€™s removal after Ahok quit Gerindra in protest at the party'€™s support for a controversial law revoking direct elections for local government heads.

Ahok has come up with names of his own for his deputy; either Djarot Saiful Hidayat, a former mayor of Blitar, East Java, or Bambang Dwi Hartono, former deputy mayor of Surabaya. He believes they have proven integrity and experience. '€œBut it'€™s up to PDI-P [to decide],'€ he says.

In fact the 2004 law on regional administration allows a regional head to govern without a deputy. So Ahok has no legal obligation to submit names for his deputy if he thinks he cannot work with any of the candidates proposed by political parties.

For a leader a deputy is an alter ego and therefore our law does not make it an obligation for regional government heads to have a deputy if they are confident they are able to accomplish their jobs without one, or if the candidates proposed to them are not suitable.

There are cases that have shown that a pairing proposed by a third party can end up in conflict between the head of a local administration and their deputy.

The then Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah and her deputy Rano Karno, and Surabaya Mayor Risma Harini and Wisnu Sakti Buana are cases in point.

 Local leaders should, therefore, retain their freedom to pick their most trusted aides to provide for the best chemistry, and this is a privilege that political parties should leave to Ahok.

But if he governs without a deputy who represents a major political party, such as the PDI-P, Ahok will have no support from political parties when confronting hostile factions in the City Council.

The council is the den of his unforgiving political foes like Taufik and the notorious Abraham '€œLulung'€ Lunggana, allegedly the underworld kingpin of Tanah Abang Market, which Ahok is trying to reorganize.

Ahok will need a deputy to lighten his enormous burden of shaking up the bureaucracy, solving the capital'€™s acute urban woes like seasonal flooding, easing traffic, combating corruption and building new infrastructure '€” the election promises he has to honor.

His abrasive, no-nonsense attitude has won him both enemies and friends within his bureaucracy and in the City Council, leaving people wondering if this characteristic is a strength or a weakness.

He began to gain public trust for his sincerity in shaking up the bureaucracy when he uploaded to YouTube regular meetings with city bureaucrats. In one of the sessions, he was angry over shoddy projects. He has kept his word to fire underperforming personnel and make meritocracy the basis on which employees are promoted.

Earlier this year, he closed down Stadium, a well-known discotheque in downtown Jakarta, for breaching drug laws. His daring action stunned both his critics and advocates because none of his predecessors had had the courage to do so.

Never one to dodge a confrontation, he has always openly taken up his foes'€™ challenges. Recently, he sought to disband the FPI after its members staged a violent demonstration at his office that led to 20 arrests.

His gruff manner made him an unlikely pairing with Jokowi, a soft-spoken Javanese who built his popularity by visiting slum areas and listening to people'€™s grievances. Ahok has been proud to call Jokowi his '€œbrake'€ to control his temper.

Now that Jokowi has left, Ahok needs a confidant who not only can calm his emotions but also to help him deal with hostile religious groups and, most importantly, with City Council politicians who are more than ready to obstruct his plans and discredit him.

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.