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Unions want former minister Rizal Ramli to run for Jakarta governor
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The Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Unions (KSPI) in a press conference on Tuesday said it wanted Rizal Ramli, the former coordinating maritime affairs minister, to run in Jakarta's 2017 gubernatorial election. (Tempo/-)
T
he Confederation of Indonesian Workers’ Unions (KSPI) has declared its support for Rizal Ramli, the former coordinating maritime affairs minister, for Jakarta governor in 2017, saying that Rizal was preferable to incumbent Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who has been leading in recent electability and popularity polls.
"Rizal has better leadership experience and is intellectually sharper than Ahok. We believe Rizal will be able to better manage the city than Ahok,” KSPI president Said Iqbal said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The confederation sees Rizal as “a smart economist who cares about the city’s underprivileged, especially the laborers.” Rizal has assisted laborers as an advisor in their fight to have the Healthcare and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) endorsed, the KSPI said.
"We're sure Rizal will not refuse our request to him to run as governor," Said said.
The KSPI said Ahok’s policies sided more with businessmen and rich people. The confederation has also criticized the city administration’s forced evictions and Ahok’s insistence on continuing with the reclamation project in Jakarta Bay.
Under Ahok’s administration, the minimum wage has increased from Rp 2.3 million (US$164) in 2014 to Rp 2.7 million in 2015 and Rp 3.1 million in 2016. The increases in the minimum wage were met with resistance from businesspeople.
Ahok has supported the increases to the minimum wage and has challenged companies to sue the city administration. The unions, however, wanted the wage set at Rp 3.3 million during negotiations this year. (evi)
