“The signals are in that direction [supporting Ahok]. But the talks have not finished yet,” Golkar politician Nurul Arifin said in Jakarta on Friday, as reported by kompas.com.

She said her party would assess the people’s aspirations before deciding on the candidate it would support ahead of the 2017 election.

The possibility of Golkar supporting Ahok became apparent following the election of Setya Novanto as party chairman at a recent Golkar congress in Bali.

Previously, Setya has praised Ahok’s performance, saying the governor had made a number of breakthroughs to solve problems in the capital. He said his party may support Ahok to seek reelection next year.

“Golkar always supports the one who is the best,” Setya added. 

Ahok, who has declared himself an independent candidate, also claimed he had won support from Golkar’s youth organizations. Currently, the incumbent is supported by the NasDem Party and the Hanura Party.

Nurul admitted that her party had sought input from various parties on supporting Ahok due to positive responses to the performance of the former East Belitung regent.

According to a recent Cyrus Network survey, Ahok is the most popular candidate at present. In comparison to other gubernatorial hopefuls, Ahok’s popularity was typically over 60 percent. The exceptions where when comparing the Jakarta governor to Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil or Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, when Ahok garnered 57.1 percent and 57.9 percent, respectively.

“Golkar wants to stand behind Ahok if people tend to have positive responses to his administration,” Nurul added. (bbn)

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