T

he political dispute between Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama and the City Council over the city budget may have reached a point of no return as both parties stand strongly by their respective views. Councilors have continued preparations to impeach Ahok, while the governor has challenged them to immediately exercise their right to do so.

During Monday'€™s plenary session, the council did not make any statement about its month-long investigation into Ahok, but its investigative team said Ahok had violated several laws, including the law on state finances. The latest report said more than 30 councilors wanted to exercise their right of opinion, which could end with impeachment if approved by the Supreme Court.

The contentious issue is the allegation that Ahok submitted the draft 2015 city budget, which had not been approved by the council, to the Home Ministry. Councilors also disputed Ahok'€™s harsh remarks against the City Council and city officials.

Meanwhile, Ahok accused the council of inserting items into the draft budget, allegedly involving corruption, after the draft was deliberated by the city administration and the council. He cited allocations for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units as examples. Ahok said several schools received UPS units last year, although they had not made requests for such equipment.

For the legislative body, practicing its right of opinion could decide the fate of an elected state official. However, if the council'€™s move is really for the interests of Jakarta residents, we are not seeing significant support from the public for its measures in challenging Ahok. Instead many Jakartans support Ahok in defending his stance.

Strong support for Ahok is obviously because of the anticorruption sentiment among the public, which has noticed that he is among few, if not the first, regional heads to challenge council on the draft budget. In the past, collusion between the administration'€™s officials and city councilors in using taxpayers'€™ money was an open secret.

The revocation of projects worth Rp 12.1 trillion (US$934 million) from the draft 2015 city budget by Ahok is considered part of efforts to prevent corruption at the planning level.

Then, what is being pursued by the City Council in exercising its right of opinion? Even if the councilors could agree that Ahok violated the law, it is hard to see how this would widely affect public interest, as required by the law for the councilors in exercising the right of inquiry and right of opinion.

Therefore, it is better that the councilors find an amicable solution to end their dispute with the governor. Ahok also needs to end his habit of spurting allegations in public, adding to political tension. Without sacrificing his idealism, Ahok sometimes needs to become a '€œpolitical artist'€ to deal with his problems with the councilors.

It is important because what is at stake in the endless dispute is not only his position as governor '€” which he said he would step down immediately if councilors could prove his wrongdoings '€” but also the interests of Jakarta residents.