"I think [the decision to resign] was a long process. It wasn't just because of the joke I made,” Ahok said at City Hall on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.

Rustam submitted his resignation letter on Monday. In it, he  offered no definitive reasons for his resignation, but had previously spoken of his "hurt" at Ahok's comments criticizing his policies on eviction.

He was referring to Ahok's statement during a flood evaluation meeting last Friday regarding the earlier flooding on Jl. Gunung Sahari in North Jakarta. The governor criticized Rustam’s efforts to mitigate the floods, including his failure to relocate people whose occupation of certain areas was considered to have exacerbated the flooding.

“If I want to expel people, I don't expect to meet resistance. Perhaps the mayor [Rustam] is on Yusril's side,” Ahok remarked, referring to political rival Yusril Izha Mahendra.  The governor later insisted he had been joking, adding that Rustam's performance was "good" and that he had no intention of replacing him.

However, on Tuesday, Ahok admitted that the Gunung Sahari incident was not the first time the North Jakarta mayor had been reluctant to carry out orders, including the eviction of people living under the Ancol toll road.

The governor also revealed that at the time of the clearing of the Kalijodo area in North Jakarta, he had rejected Rustam's proposal to allow a stay of eviction to a mechanic's workshop owned by a Chinese Indonesian. "It's a long story. It doesn't matter. I appreciate what he's done," Ahok said.

Ahok has accepted Rustam's resignation and appointed North Jakarta Deputy Mayor Wahyu Haryadi as his acting replacement. (bbn)

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