W

hat makes Jakarta different today from the way it was last year? Traffic congestion is just as bad, if not worse, than last year, potholes remain in every road across the city and every river and sluice gate is obstructed by garbage, as always.

It seems Jakarta under Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama has barely changed anything since he took office precisely one year ago. The semblance of business as usual in the lives of 12 million people who work or reside in the city is perhaps the reason why the governor himself is unaware he has reached the first anniversary of his official term as the leader of the capital.

Ahok took over Jakarta'€™s gubernatorial job from former governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, who was elected president in 2014. The transfer of power was not as smooth and peaceful as expected, since Ahok had angered too many politicians in the City Council even while he was Jokowi'€™s deputy.

Both Ahok and Jokowi went through complicated first years in office. Like Jokowi, Ahok has had to deal with a City Council dominated by his detractors.

The draft Jakarta budget for 2015 was belatedly endorsed by the City Council because of political strife that dragged on and forced the home minister to approve it only in April.

Political tension filled the whole first year of Ahok'€™s term. With no sign of an easing of the animosity between the governor and his political opponents, uncertainty has been cast over what landmark achievements he will have by the end of his tenure in 2017 that would convince Jakartans people to give him a full five-year mandate.

Political stability matters for a leader so as to enable him or her to deliver on campaign promises. Even a politician without a party, like Ahok, cannot ignore the maxim.

The confrontational style of his leadership resulted in the foot-dragging during the deliberations over the draft city budget that eventually cost him valuable time he could have used to kick-start his priority development projects.

On the one hand, Jakarta certainly needs a leader who dares to fight politicians at City Council for the sake of the public good. As many have suggested, Jakarta demands a '€œthuggery'€ approach to take on '€œthugs'€, which suits Ahok.

On the other hand, Jakarta'€™s policy-making requires concerted efforts from both the executive and legislative branches to make sure development policies are implemented, which perhaps Ahok still needs to learn, not just for the sake of his political career, but also for the well-being of his people.

True, public confidence in him remains intact and would make him the governor if the election was held today, which is due to his persistent drive against corruption and his reform of the bureaucracy.

His efforts have born fruit as evinced in the naming of two city councillors as suspects in the scandalous procurement of uninterruptible power supply devices and the speeding up of public services without the need to grease the bureaucracy with money.

But Ahok still needs to learn the ropes so as to leave a memorable legacy to Jakarta.