Golkar Party, NasDem Party and Hanura Party have all voiced their support for Ahok.  “The party doesn’t mind if Ahok chooses to run as an independent or through the political party mechanism,” said Golkar’s Jakarta chapter acting chairman Yorrys Raweyai, whose party expressed its support for Ahok on Tuesday.

PDI-P deputy chairman Djarot Saiful Hidayat, who is currently the deputy governor of Jakarta, said that his party would only select a figure who was ready to be nominated through the political party mechanism.

“PDI-P will nominate [a candidate]. We want to strengthen the political party system,” said Djarot, who was initially to be paired with Ahok before the latter declared himself as an independent candidate in March, as reported by kompas.com.

PDI-P, however, has yet to decide its gubernatorial candidate as the selection process is still taking place, said Djarot, adding that the decision would be made next month, after the Idul Fitri celebration. “Each party has its mechanism to decide a candidate. We also have our own,” he added.

As the largest political party in the city, with 28 seats in the City Council, PDI-P has a ticket to propose its own candidate.

Ahok has appointed civil servant Heru Budi Hartono as his deputy gubernatorial candidate. A coalition between the Gerindra Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) introduced former deputy defense minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and PKS politician Muhammad Idrus as a possible pairing. (bbn)

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