J

akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has bared his teeth at mass organizations that reject his decision to run for reelection in 2017 by stating that he intended to stop grant allocations to them.

Ahok has emphasized that he would have no hesitation in canceling grant disbursements to Betawi mass organizations found to be “playing politics” instead of carrying out their main duty to conserve Betawi culture.

He has instructed his administration to discontinue budget injections for Jakarta’s Betawi Culture Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi) following a public campaign to persuade people to reject him as the next governor.

The campaign was reportedly staged during the Lebaran Betawi festival last month at the Banteng field in Central Jakarta by the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR), one of the mass organizations under Bamus Betawi’s supervision.

“I want to stop [grants for Bamus]. It has been playing politics with a stage at the Lebaran Betawi, making taunts about SARA and yelling out racist things,” said Ahok on Wednesday, referring to ethnicity, religion, race and intergroup relations.

Ahok said the administration would no longer disburse annual grants of between Rp 4 billion (US$308,000) and Rp 5 billion following the offensive campaign.

During the Lebaran Betawi festival, FBR leader Lutfi Hakim publicly urged attendees not to elect a governor candidate whose religion or race were not the same as theirs.

He then claimed that Ahok had harmed Muslim residents by evicting them from Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, last year and from Pasar Ikan, North Jakarta, earlier this year.

The festival was attended by city secretary Saefullah and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidajat.

On Wednesday, Ahok suggested Saefullah resign as he suspected the secretary was involved in Bamus Betawi’s alleged political game by not stopping Lutfi’s oration.

However, he did not advise Djarot to resign.

“Pak Saefullah had better resign because as a civil servant, he let [the oration take place]. Civil servants have sworn not to exploit SARA, as well as not to violate Pancasila or the 1945 Constitution,” said Ahok without elaborating on whether Saefullah played an active part in the campaign.

Ahok said allocations would also be stopped to other mass organizations found to have used the grants for political purposes instead of their intended aim of conserving religion or cultural values among Jakartans.

Also on Wednesday, the administration met with the Jakarta branch of the National and Political Unity Office (Kesbangpol), which manages funds for mass organizations in the capital.

After the meeting, it concluded that it was unlikely it would halt the grants. Instead, it would allocate funds based on program priority, said Djarot.

“Previously, we gave grants at once in a particular amount. Now, we will select their programs. We will only accept programs that conserve Betawi culture.”

Meanwhile, responding to the administration’s plan, Bamus Betawi said it would not have any difficulty if its grant was stopped.

“The grant does not meet our needs in conserving our culture. Moreover, without the grant, Bamus Betawi can still fund itself,” said Lutfi, who is also Bamus Betawi’s secretary.

Separately, Bamus Betawi head Zainuddin said the administration must not halt the grant because the administration was also responsible for conserving Betawi culture.