Risma said she had told Megawati about her desire to remain Surabaya mayor. “I cannot be forced,” the mayor stressed in Jakarta on Thursday, as reported by tribbunews.com.

The PDI-P is currently seeking a strong candidate to challenge incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, whose electability puts him at the top of the list of potential candidates, according to a number of surveys. Risma would be Ahok’s strongest rival if she ran in the election set to be held in February 2017.

Megawati met Risma on May 1 in Surabaya, reportedly telling the mayor to consider running in the Jakarta election. A number of PDI-P politicians also want her to take part in the election to compete against the incumbent. 

Risma previously said she would not leave Surabaya because during her mayoral election campaign, she promised her supporters that she would finish a five-year term.

Several PDI-P politicians have said the party is still mulling nominating Ahok as a gubernatorial candidate, if the governor agrees to leave his independent path.

But Ahok has insisted that he will run as an independent candidate because volunteers from his Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) group have collect nearly one million photocopies of Jakarta voters’ identity cards, although the law only requires him to collect 532,000. (bbn)

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