Supporters of Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama, calling themselves Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), have doubled their efforts to gather enough support for their champion to run as an independent candidate in 2017.

The group previously focused on social media like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to lure more supporters, but lately they have beefed up their efforts by establishing posts in strategic locations like shopping centers and restaurants.

They have opened seven booths, in locations including Mal Ambassador in South Jakarta, Emporium Pluit in North Jakarta, Central Park Mall and Takarajima Restaurant in West Jakarta.

Ahok, considered the strongest independent contender, would have to attract as many as 750,000 supporters in Jakarta before the election '€” with support to be authenticated through documentation of ID cards (KTP).

As of Tuesday, his supporters have gathered the official support of 36,554 people, but to meet the threshold they need to gather the KTPs of an average of at least 2,000 supporters a day until August next year. So far, in the seven weeks since June 15, they have averaged 830 copies a day.

'€œWe are hoping that Ahok will run as an independent, and we are ready to support him in this long race,'€ Amalia Ayuningtyas, spokesperson of Teman Ahok, told The Jakarta Post.

On their website, temanahok.com, the group said they gathered 1,618 copies on Tuesday alone, while they were aiming to collect 3,200 a day until July next year. If these targets are fulfilled, they will gather more than a million supporters by August next year.

Populi Center head Nico Harjanto said that the odds of Ahok running without any party affiliation in the next gubernatorial election are quite high. '€œThe threshold for Ahok to run independently is within reach,'€ he told the Post recently.

In a March survey conducted by Populi Center on regional leader popularity, Ahok leads in terms of public recognition with 96.6 percent, and 23.1 percent of respondents said they would vote for him again in the event of an election.

'€œHowever, his problem is not how to gain support, but how to compete with candidates from the political parties,'€ Nico added.

Nico noted that the campaign by Teman Ahok would nevertheless serve as a medium in '€œtesting the waters.'€ '€œDepending on the enthusiasm of the public, Ahok will be able to weigh his chances '€” whether to run as an independent, or to start negotiating with the political parties,'€ said Nico.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the revision to the regional elections law, adding more requirements for independent candidates. The move was criticized as creating a high hurdle for independents.

The revised requirements set different percentages according to the size of a region, but in the case of Jakarta, an independent gubernatorial candidate has to gather support from at least 7.5 percent of the population, which is slightly more than 10 million.

Separately, Ahok said that he had been informed of Teman Ahok'€™s activities and appreciated the volunteers'€™ efforts in collecting the ID cards. '€œI have time until August 2016 to collect roughly one million ID cards if I want to run for governor independently. I don'€™t know if one million residents are willing to give their ID cards to me, but I thank those who have thus far,'€ Ahok told reporters at City Hall recently.

He went on to say that he currently had no backup plan if he failed to collect enough ID cards to run for governor independently.

'€œI don'€™t have any plans yet. I'€™ll have to decide when the day comes,'€ Ahok said.

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Bima Wicaksana is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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