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Jakarta Post

PDI-P vows not to support independent candidates

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, June 29, 2016

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PDI-P vows not to support independent candidates Show of support – Members of the Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) volunteer group on June 19 celebrate their success in collecting 1 million vote pledges to support Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama's bid to run as an independent candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election in Jakarta. (thejakartapost.com/Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)

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he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and four other parties are adamant in their rejection of independent candidates in Jakarta’s gubernatorial election next year as they seek to uphold the relevance of political parties in the country.

The other parties are the Gerindra Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

The chairman of the gubernatorial candidate selection team of PDI-P’s Jakarta-chapter, Gembong Warsono, said the parties had taken such a decision at a meeting back in May.

Apart from the gubernatorial election, current issues in Jakarta were also being discussed intensively among the parties, he said, adding that they were set to hold a meeting in the near future to map out existing problems affecting residents in the city.

“We will hold a discussion after the Idul Fitri holiday to capture problems that need resolving in Jakarta. We will also determine development programs that could be implemented in the city. After the meeting, we will decide a figure that we believe deserves to be appointed as governor candidate,” Gembong told thejakartapost.com.

So far, none of the parties have appointed a governor candidate.

Gembong said that should Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama decide to run for governor with political party backing, PDI-P would throw its support behind him only if he agreed to meet all of the party’s requirements and processes.

“To make an analogy, when a man and woman fall in love, it is not appropriate for the girl’s mother to first propose to the man. The same condition applies to PDI-P. It is unlikely for PDI-P to propose Ahok if he is reluctant to follow the party’s mechanism,” Gembong said. (ebf)

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