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Jakarta Post

Political parties slam Ahok over Rp 100b-for-political-support claim

Arientha Primanita (The Jakarta Post)
Mon, March 21, 2016

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Political parties slam Ahok over Rp 100b-for-political-support claim Wanted -- Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama speaks to journalists at City Hall on Thursday. (Kompas.com/Alsadad Rudi)

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olitical parties have challenged Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama to prove his claim that political parties asked him for Rp 100 billion (US$7.65 million) in exchange for supporting him in Jakarta's 2017 gubernatorial election.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Muhammad Yamin slammed Ahok for the statement, saying that he was only aiming to weaken the image of political parties.

"The PDI-P never asks for any money from candidates. That would be unfair. We have a good relationship [with Ahok] but now he claims he does not want to join a political party because there is a payment," Yamin said to journalists in Jakarta on Friday.

Yamin slammed Ahok for being ungrateful and forgetting that the PDI-P and Gerindra had helped him to become deputy governor when he was paired with then governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"Ahok is a governor because of the PDI-P," Yamin said.

Ahok took the capital's top post following Jokowi's victory in the 2014 presidential election.

Ahok said on Thursday that he did not have enough money to run in the 2017 gubernatorial election with political parties' support. He went on to explain that it required a lot amount of money to shift party machines so that all party officials in a region worked to support a candidate.

"If two parties support you and they ask for funding for their political machines, Rp 100 billion might not be enough to run for Jakarta governor," he said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

Ahok announced on Monday that he would run as an independent candidate in next year's election, paired with Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board (BPKAD) head Heru Budi Hartono. Ahok solely relies on the support of Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), a group that helps him gather the copies of citizen identity cards needed to meet the requirements set by the Jakarta General Election Commission.

Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham also challenged the former East Belitung regent to back up his words.

"Ahok should say which party [then] I don't think it would be a problem. Then everything would be transparent for future improvements," he said Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

Golkar has never asked for money from its regional leadership candidates, Idrus said. [And] even if they had, the money would be used for campaigns and not for party's treasury.

Gerindra deputy chairman Fadli Zon defended his party also, saying it never asked for a political dowry when lending support to Jokowi and Ahok during the 2012 Jakarta election.

He too challenged Ahok to show proof if there was indeed a request by a political party for Rp 100 billion.

"He better prove it. That is an outrageous number," he said, adding that nowhere inside or outside of Jakarta had Gerindra made a dowry a requirement for candidacy support. (rin)

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