T

he feud between Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Yusril Ihza Mahendra has become even more personal and expanded to involve other members of Yusril’s family.

Amid the already heightened tension between Ahok and noted lawyer Yusril, who is seeking political and public support to challenge Ahok in next year’s gubernatorial election, Yusril’s younger brother Yusron stepped into the ring.

Yusron, Indonesia’s ambassador to Japan, drew ire after his statement criticizing Ahok’s leadership was deemed to have racial overtones, opening up the wounds of the 1998 riots in Jakarta in which hundreds of Chinese Indonesians were murdered and raped.

The Foreign Ministry and members of the House of Representatives’ Commission I for foreign affairs expressed regret over Yusron’s statement, which was posted on Twitter on Monday, saying that the ambassador had implied that there would be riots targeting ethnic Chinese should Ahok continue with his confrontational style of leadership.

“The advice of the 3-star general is worth listening to: If you love the ethnic Chinese who are good but poor, [they] cannot flee the country if there are ethnic riots,” according to Yusron’s tweet.

“Ahok should not be arrogant while governing. I feel sorry for the other Chinese who are poor, kind and could become innocent victims [of ethnic riots].”

Despite widespread condemnation, Yusron has not retracted the statement nor conveyed an apology.

“I will not comment on anything linked to the tweet until the situation calms down so as to not extend the problem,” he said.

Commission I member and the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Charles Honoris, who like Ahok is also Chinese Indonesian, requested Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi to immediately remove Yusron from his position.

Charles said Yusron’s comments were not in the spirit of pluralism, a core Indonesian principle. “I’m not an Ahok supporter. I just want to express disappointment with regard to Ambassador Yusron’s statement on Twitter about Ahok. His tweets were racist and unethical.”

Although some expressed doubts about his capabilities, Yusron was assigned to the post by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in December 2013. The former politician’s posting is slated to end this year.

In response to Yusron’s tweets, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the ministry expected all foreign service representatives to focus on their diplomatic mission assigned by the government.

“We have constantly reminded our overseas representatives to remain focused on doing their job there,” he said.

Yusron’s criticism of Ahok, intensified after his brother Yusril became embroiled in a war of words with Ahok, who accused both of the brothers of playing the racial card to garner support.

“I have asked the foreign minister to strip Yusron of his duties due to his racist remarks that could incite violence,” said Ahok.

Ahok and the Mahendra brothers were both born and raised in the same area of Bangka Belitung province. Late last year, Ahok’s younger brother Basuri was beaten by Yusril’s older brother Yuslih in the Belitung Timur regency elections.

The success has apparently inspired Yusril run against Ahok in the upcoming election for Jakarta governor. The mudslinging between the two candidates has recently veered into religious issues.

Ahok and Yusril engaged in fierce debates this week over the renovation of Luar Batang mosque in North Jakarta. The feud started when Yusril acted as the legal representative of Luar Batang residents to oppose a city administration’s eviction plan.

Local residents became incensed after stories emerged that the eviction plan would include the removal of the tomb of a noted cleric located near the mosque. Ahok denied that he ever intended to remove the tomb and accused Yusril of playing the religion card to discredit him.

Yusril, a former minister in the Yudhoyono administration, denied the allegations, insisting that he never brought up the mosque issue.

Ahok boasted that although he was a Christian, it was during his time that the city administration made many contributions to the renovation of the mosque, a claim that was later denied by the mosque’s committee.

Ahok then lashed out at Yusril, warning the public against electing an individual whose party once campaigned for the revision of the first principle of the state ideology of Pancasila so that only Islam would be officially recognized as a religion.

Yusril is the founder and chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), which received a miniscule number of votes in the 2014 election, and has no representatives in the House or in the Jakarta City Council.