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Support of diaspora for Ahok may be in vain
Copies of thousands of identity cards collected from Jakartans living abroad to support Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama’s bid to run as an independent candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election may be pointless following the revision of the Regional Elections Law.
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A visitor sits in front of the Aspiration Board at an Teman Ahok Fair in Gudang Sarinah, Pancoran, South Jakarta, on May 29. Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) held a two-day event to collect funds and copies of identity cards to help the candidacy of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and running mate Heru Budi Hartono. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
Copies of thousands of identity cards collected from Jakartans living abroad to support Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama’s bid to run as an independent candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election may be pointless following the revision of the Regional Elections Law.
The revised law stipulates that the owners of all identity cards submitted to support an independent candidate in regional elections must be checked and verified.
So far, Ahok has acquired 945,000 copies of IDs belonging to Jakartans, from a target of 1 million, which were collected by a group of volunteers called Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) for his independent bid in the election. From that figure, around 5 percent were contributed by Jakartans living abroad, Teman Ahok spokesman Singgih Widyastono said on Wednesday.
Ahok's supporters include some living in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan and the United States. The supporters submit the copies of their IDs by post to Teman Ahok after downloading support forms online.
Ahok has expressed concern over the new requirement as limited time will hamper his supporters from presenting themselves to officials for validity checks. Officials are required to meet supporter face-to-face to check the validity of their submitted IDs.
If supporters fail to present themselves to the officials, their support will not be counted.
Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) head Sumarno said the commission did not have a special budget for conducting overseas verifications. Therefore, it is impossible for the KPUD to check the validity of the IDs of the supporters living abroad.
"We suggest people who vote for independent candidate from overseas return to Jakarta during factual verification," Sumarno told thejakartapost.com on Wednesday.
Singgih from Teman Ahok said the group would spread the information through text message to all Ahok supporters.
Registration for independent candidates will be from Aug. 3 to 7. No information has been released on verification dates.
Verification will be conducted for 14 days, during which KPUD officials will check supporters one by one, just like a census.
In the case of a supporter not being home when officers visit them, they will have three days to verify their support by visiting the elections committees offices. (rin)
