“I don’t care if I lose the election; you can slander me if you want but the important thing for me is to work for the city,” Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama told massed reporters as he entered the Constitutional Court on Monday.

In an extremely unusual move, the governor is challenging the Regional Elections Law, hoping that Constitutional Court justices will revise the part of the law that states that an incumbent regional head must take a leave of absence if he or she wishes to campaign for re-election.

In the first hearing, Ahok, who has declared his intention to fight to retain his position, told the judges that Article 70 paragraph 3 of the law could deprive him of his constitutional rights by forcing him to take leave, claiming that many people would take advantage of his absence from the gubernatorial office.

The article stipulates that incumbent candidates must take unpaid leave and are prohibited from using facilities provided for their position in the re-election campaign.

“I have no intention of using state facilities to support my candidacy, I just don’t want to leave my position for several months just to take part in a campaign,” said Ahok, who was accompanied by his personal aide in the applicant’s stand.

After declaring that he will run in the 2017 gubernatorial election on a political-party ticket, Ahok has repeatedly expressed his intention to continue in his post up until the election; he claims the campaign period, which falls between Oct. 26 and Feb. 11, coincides with the examination of the disbursement of the 2016 city budget and the drafting of next year’s budget.

The governor said he was reluctant to delegate the work to his subordinates, as he wanted to ensure that the budget was well planned. He also argued that according to a presidential decree, an incumbent had to serve for five years and forcing an incumbent to take months of leave would therefore be a violation.

“Taking leave should be an option, not mandatory, and it is not fair that the article removes my responsibility as Jakarta governor,” Ahok said on Monday.

The race for the governorship of the capital appears a shoo-in for Ahok after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) signalled that it would join the Golkar Party, NasDem Party and Hanura Party in supporting the incumbent.

Numerous surveys have indicated that Ahok is the candidate with the greatest electability in the upcoming election, and his most formidable potential candidate, Surabaya mayor and PDI-P member Tri Rismaharini, has insisted she has no interest in throwing her hat into the ring. Meanwhile, surveys suggests businessman Sandiaga Uno, who has been nominated by the Gerindra Party, lags far behind both Ahok and Risma.

Ahok meanwhile said taking no part in the campaign was a disadvantage he was willing to accept for the sake of guarding the city budget.

“I don’t mind if it means I can’t defend myself from my contenders’ attacks during the campaign. I am worried that there will be a violation if I don’t keep my eye on the city budget.”

The judges, however, were dissatisfied with the petition, saying that other than mentioning his intention to supervise the city budget, the governor had failed to provide a clear picture that his constitutional rights were contravened by the disputed article.

Justice Aswanto said providing an explanation of how Ahok’s rights would be violated by the article was necessary for the case to continue, saying that otherwise the petition would be dismissed for not meeting the required terms of a judicial review.

“You should explain to us how the article damages your rights or at least has the potential to violate your rights in the future,” he said. In response to the suggestion, Ahok said he would revise his judicial review petition within two days, although the court gave him 14 days to do so.

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