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Tjahjo Kumolo remains firm on decision not to suspend Ahok
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Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo speaks during a hearing with the Regional Representatives Council in Jakarta on June 8, 2016. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
H
ome Minister Tjahjo Kumolo stood firm on his decision to continue to allow Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to keep hold of his post despite criticism saying that the governor should have been suspended due to his status as a defendant.
Speaking before lawmakers from the House of Representatives Commission II overseeing regional administrations on Wednesday, Tjahjo said he would accept all responsibility should his decision turn out to be legally problematic.
The politician from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) asserted that Ahok’s position as governor would depend on the prison term demanded by prosecutors in his ongoing blasphemy trial.
Tjahjo criticized lawmakers who accused him of siding with Ahok, who is running for reelection with the backing of a coalition of parties led by the PDI-P.
(Read also: Ahok apologizes to victims of flooding in Jakarta)
Yandri Susanto of the National Mandate Party (PAN), one of four parties that have demanded Ahok’s suspension, for example, had actively been criticizing the government for keeping Ahok at his post despite his status as a blasphemy defendant.
“I don’t have any business with Ahok. I am defending the President in this case. I am ready to leave my job should my decision prove to be wrong,” Tjahjo said. (bbs)
