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Pairing with Djarot remains a possibility, Ahok says
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Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (left) and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat pose in front of a picture of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during Djarot’s inauguration at City Hall on Dec. 17, 2014. (JP/Awo)
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akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said it is still possible for him to pair with his current deputy governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, in the 2017 gubernatorial election, instead of Heru Budi Hartono.
Ahok named Heru as his running mate when he declared in March that he would run as an independent candidate.
“Like [a divorced] husband and wife, it is still possible to reconcile as long as it is not talak tiga,” Ahok said on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com.
Talak tiga (three divorces) is a situation in which a Muslim husband cannot remarry a former wife before the woman marries another man.
Ahok declared himself an independent candidate in March and appointed Heru as his deputy gubernatorial candidate when the Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) group asked Ahok to decide whether he would run as an independent or with a political party nomination.
Teman Ahok argued that if the decision was delayed, its volunteers could not start collecting photocopies of the identity cards of Jakarta voters. Teman Ahok says its volunteers have collected more than 900,000 ID copies so far, exceeding the minimum of 532,000 required for candidates hoping to run as independents.
However, Ahok said on Wednesday that pairing with Heru had not yet been finalized.
Earlier on Wednesday, Djarot made a similar statement about the possibility of pairing with Ahok in the gubernatorial election.
“Many people say that Ahok-Djarot is the best pair. We have also to listen to such voices. Surveys on the people’s satisfaction [of our performance] is high,” Djarot added.
Djarot, however, stressed that he would follow any decisions made by his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), regarding his candidacy for next year’s election.
He also eliminated the possibility of running as an independent deputy gubernatorial candidate with Ahok. “We have stressed that the candidacy should pass through a political party nomination,” he added. (bbn)
