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Blasphemy controversy hurting Ahok’s electability

A blasphemy allegation leveled at Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has taken a toll on his popularity rating before the gubernatorial election, slated for Feb

Safrin La Batu (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, November 26, 2016

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Blasphemy controversy hurting Ahok’s electability

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blasphemy allegation leveled at Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has taken a toll on his popularity rating before the gubernatorial election, slated for Feb. 15, according to the latest survey.

A survey released by the Jakarta-based Indonesian Politic Indicator on Thursday showed that Ahok was no longer the frontrunner.

Former middle-ranking military officer Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, whose candidacy was announced at the 11th hour prior to the closing of candidate registration, is ahead with 30.4 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him, according to the survey.

Ahok is the second in popularity with 26.2 percent, followed by former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan, who garnered 24.5 percent.

The survey was held from Nov. 15 to 22 and involved 798 respondents. Ahok was named a blasphemy suspect in Nov. 16.

“Ahok’s statement regarding Al Maidah 51 verse seems to be connected to the decreasing support for him,” it was noted in the survey results, referring to the Quranic verse at the center of a blasphemy case involving the governor.

The survey showed 94.6 percent of the respondents knew about the alleged blasphemy and 5.4 percent did not.

Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, was accused of committing blasphemy when he mentioned Al Maidah 51 verse of the Quran in a video that went viral last month. His remark about the verse triggered nationwide uproar, which culminated in a large-scale protest on Nov. 4 to demand his immediate arrest.

“If the gubernatorial election took place today, the winner of the election would be Agus,” Indonesian Politic Indicator director Burhanudin Muhtadi said during the release of the survey.

Ahok’s current rating was 20 percent lower than it was five months ago when the Indonesian Politic Indicator recorded his popularity rating on June.

Burhanudin noted that Ahok’s polling numbers had dropped despite high public satisfaction over his performance during his gubernatorial tenure since 2014.

The survey showed that 69 percent of Jakartans were satisfied with his performance, mainly because he sped up several key infrastructure projects.

The new survey result came on the back of another survey released by the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) last Friday.

The LSI survey showed that following the naming of Ahok as a blasphemy suspect, his popularity rating stood at 10.6 percent, which was a significant decrease from 53.9 percent in March.

The LSI survey, however, showed Anies was the frontrunner with 31.90 percent and Agus was second with 30.90 percent.

The LSI survey also found that the controversy surrounding the alleged blasphemy had hurt Ahok’s popularity.

Meanwhile, Ahok’s campaign team has claimed that although the blasphemy case has affected Ahok’s popularity, it had not overturned his position as the frontrunner. Team spokesman Raja Juli Anto told The Jakarta Post recently that a survey by Ahok’s team showed that the incumbent remained on top.

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