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Ahok sticks to independent stance amid support from parties
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A mall visitor holds a T-shirt emblazoned with "KTP Gue buat Ahok" (My identity card goes to Ahok) at the Teman Ahok booth at Puri Indah Mall in West Jakarta on April 24. Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has announced that he will run as an independent candidate, pairing with Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board head Heru Budi Hartono, in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. (Antara/Dodo Karundeng)
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span style="line-height: 1.6em;">Despite a number of political parties pledging support for Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in his bid for reelection, it has not swayed him from his resolve to run as an independent candidate in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
The NasDem Party and the Hanura Party were the latest two parties to declare support for the former East Belitung regent. Last week, the Golkar Party’s new chairman, Setya Novanto, hinted that the party would support Ahok, a former Golkar lawmaker himself, in next year's regional election.
Several Golkar members have also openly pledged support for Ahok, especially younger members
However, Ahok has voiced his determination to run as an independent candidate, pairing with subordinate Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board ( BPKAD ) head Heru Budi Hartono.
"I will [run as an independent candidate]. We must appreciate friends who have been collecting copies of residents' identity cards for us," he told journalists at City Hall on Monday.
He said that Heru would be a role model of a good civil servant.
Ahok and Heru's ticket for the election got a boost from Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), a group of volunteers who collected copies of ID cards to reach the figure required for Ahok to run as an independent candidate as set by the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD)
To date, Teman Ahok has collected 869,706 copies of IDs, falling just short of its targeted 1 million ID card copies. The number, however, is more than the 532,000 required by the KPUD.
Running as an independent did not mean that he was against political parties, Ahok argued, but was because he wanted to accommodate the aspirations of people who might be skeptical about political parties. (rin)
