(Tribunnews.com)

Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama and former youth and sports minister Adhyaksa Dault are beginning to gather support for their bids in Jakarta'€™s gubernatorial election in 2017.

Despite competing with one another for the top job in the province, Ahok and Adhyaksa have so far refrained from criticizing one another. Instead, they have praised each other when asked to comment on the capacity of their respective rival.

'€œI am also a national athlete. I also support Adhyaksa,'€ said Ahok on Saturday when asked to comment on the support of sportspeople for Adhyaksa'€™s candidacy. '€œWe all know about his role and dedication to sports. Therefore, we long for such a figure to lead Jakarta,'€ he added.

Meanwhile, Adhyaksa said that Ahok had introduced many good programs since he led the city administration. '€œWhat I like most is e-budgeting. If I am elected [to become Jakarta governor], I will adopt it in my administration,'€ he was quoted by kompas.com as saying on Saturday.

Although they praised each other, both politicians have begun efforts to boost public support for their respective gubernatorial bids.

Ahok said he wants to collect one million photocopies of Jakarta identity cards to make sure he will be able to become an independent candidate.

His supporters group Friends of Ahok has begun to organize public events and has been inviting people in public places, such as shopping malls, to have photocopies of their IDs taken.

'€œHopefully, Jakarta people believe that I deserve [to become the governor] and therefore they will give me a million ID photocopies,'€ he said on Friday.

Meanwhile, after gaining the endorsement of religious leaders, Adhyaksa on Friday obtained a declaration of support from the Indonesian National Athletes Association (IANI), chaired by former badminton world champion Icuk Sugiarto.

A number of sportspeople voiced their support for Adhyaksa, including former boxing champion Ellias Pical, badminton players Markis Kido and Luluk Hadianto and former wrestler Krisna Bayu. Noted musicians like Jelly Tobing, Deddi Dukun and Reni Jayusman also attended the declaration event.

Through his organization, Icuk claimed, he could gather some 500,000 backers for Adhyaksa. '€œWe have instructed not only athletes but also former athletes and their families to collect IDs for Adhyaksa,'€ said Icuk.

Photocopies of IDs are needed as part of the requirements for anyone who wants to stand as an independent candidate in mayoral, regency of gubernatorial elections. For Jakarta, with a voting population of about 7 million, each candidate needs around 600,000 photocopies of IDs. (bbn)(++++)

Popular

Growing discontent with policymaking keeps students on streets

Protest works

Dollar firms as cracks emerge in peace deal, shipping through Hormuz drops sharply