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akarta’s Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said he supports a plan by Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama not to take leave of absence from his duties during the election campaign.

Ahok has requested a judicial review of Law No. 10/2016 on regional elections, which stipulates that an incumbent gubernatorial candidate must take a leave of absence while campaigning.

However, the governor is reluctant to comply with the rule as the campaign period, which is from Oct. 26 to Feb. 11, 2017, would be in conjunction with the drafting of the city’s 2017 budget and capital expenditures.

Responding to the move, Djarot said that he agreed with Ahok, who will likely encourage the administration to keep focusing on its work, particularly on drafting the budget.

“[If the Constitutional Court allows the review], that’s good. We can focus on our work in the administration. We don’t want the election to make us ignore our work,” said Djarot, who reportedly being considered as a candidate to run in the election by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).