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Party ticket will ensure smooth candidacy for Ahok, analyst says
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Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama speaks to journalists after announcing his decision to run in next year's Jakarta gubernatorial election on a party-political ticket in Jakarta on Wednesday. (The Jakarta Post/rez)
G
overnor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s decision to take part in the Jakarta gubernatorial election with political party support will smoothen his candidacy and avoid the complications of an independent candidacy, a senior political analyst says.
An independent candidacy would entail a lengthy and complicated verification process of the copies of identity cards collected by Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) were he to run as an independent candidate, Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a senior political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said on Thursday.
“Whereas with a political-party ticket, everything is easily prepared,” Ikrar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Under the existing regulation, a political party or coalition of several parties with at least 22 seats on the City Council has one gubernatorial ticket, while an individual can run as an independent candidate if he or she collects at least 532,000 copies of identity cards from voters as evidence of support.
Based on the revised Regional Election Law, verification of the copies of ID cards is now more complicated.
Standing on a party ticket was a form of cooperation between Ahok and his supporting political parties – the Golkar Party, NasDem Party and Hanuray Party, said Ikrar, adding that while Ahok received party support, the parties could benefit from Ahok's popularity.
“The political parties hope that will get more votes in 2019 general election,” Ikrar added. (rez/bbn)
