Following Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama'€™s announcement of his choice of deputy candidate, the Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) supporter group is seeking to minimize the possible loopholes within the governor'€™s risky independent candidacy by calling on all supporters to fill in the support forms again.

Teman Ahok had begun collecting copies of ID cards to support the governor'€™s run for a second term independently. Thus far, they have collected 784,977 ID cards. The forms filled in by supporters, however, did not included a deputy governor candidate, as Ahok only recently chose civil servant Heru Budi Hartono as his running mate.

Teman Ahok cofounder Singgih Widyastomo, a graduate of Pamulang University in South Tangerang, said that volunteers would therefore reverify the ID cards and forms collected to make sure no supporters had any objection to Ahok'€™s choice of deputy and to avoid any legal loopholes.

'€œWe want to minimize the possibility of any legal problems that may occur in the future in any attempt to foil Pak Ahok'€™s candidacy,'€ Singgih told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Previously, gubernatorial hopeful Yusril Ihza Mahendra, a former law and human rights minister and a seasoned state administrative law expert, claimed that the ID cards and forms collected for Ahok were not valid, as a deputy governor candidate had not been included.

A 2015 General Elections Commission regulation on regional leader candidacy stipulates in all articles concerning independent candidates that the candidates are a '€œpair'€.

Starting next Tuesday, Singgih said, Teman Ahok would mobilize 300 volunteers to 267 subdistricts across the city to reverify the documents door-to-door. The volunteers would also help supporters to fill in new forms, which now include Heru'€™s name as Ahok'€™s deputy. Those who reject Ahok'€™s choice of deputy may withdraw their support, he said.

Heru, currently head of the Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board, is an echelon II official at the Jakarta administration. He is also a commissioner in two city-owned firms, lender Bank DKI and beverage manufacturer PT Delta Djakarta. Delta'€™s main brand is Anker beer. The 51-year-old received his Bachelor'€™s and Master'€™s degrees from Krisnadwipayana University in East Jakarta.

Teman Ahok also encouraged supporters to reverify documents on their own by visiting booths in shopping centers or sending newly completed forms to the community'€™s headquarters.

Singgih said that volunteers were currently sorting out documents per subdistrict in order to begin reverifying documents next week.

Independent gubernatorial candidates in Jakarta must collect roughly 532,000 ID cards, about 6.5 percent of the city'€™s population. ID cards and forms must be submitted to the Jakarta General Elections Commission by Aug. 16 at the latest, which means Teman Ahok has five months to reverify.

Ahok said that he completely relied on residents for his candidacy, but was optimistic that he would receive enough support as he believed he had brought '€œreal changes to Jakarta that residents can see'€.

'€œIf Jakarta residents want me to run for a second term, I'€™m sure they will visit Teman Ahok headquarters to reverify or submit their ID cards and forms,'€ Ahok said Thursday.

However, not all are eager to return for a second time to reverify their documents. For example, Shela Mustika, who submitted her support last year, said that she would not visit a booth to reverify her documents.

'€œThey should have thought of this before collecting ID cards. I don'€™t have a lot of free time so I don'€™t think I will reverify my documents,'€ she said.

In contrast, Noriko Adhyanti, who submitted her ID card and form last week, said that she would return to the booths to reverify her documents if it would help Ahok'€™s candidacy. '€œI will return to the shopping center where I submitted my documents if it can help Ahok. I support Ahok and I want him to run for governor again,'€ she said.
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