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Majority of PDI-P supporters not in favor of Ahok, party's politician says
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Gembong Warsono, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) Jakarta gubernatorial candidate selection team, speaks to journalists. (tribunnews.com/Valdy Arief)
T
he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Jakarta gubernatorial candidate selection team chairman, Gembong Warsono, has said that 80 percent of the party's voters will not support Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.
"PDI-P supporters may have pledged support to Ahok. But once we declare our candidate, we're sure that they will change their mind and vote for the party's candidate," he said at the Jakarta City Council on Friday.
Gembong’s statement is a stark contrast to the results of a survey conducted by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) that said 81 percent of PDI-P supporters would vote for Ahok in the election. Responding to this, he claimed that the PDI-P and SMRC had used different samples in their research.
The sample that the PDI-P used comprised low-income Jakartans, such as residents who live near riverbanks and in slum areas, Gembong said. The party found that most people living in those areas shared a dislike for Ahok’s leadership.
"However, people who live in elite areas such as Pondok Indah, South Jakarta share a different view" he said, adding that the SMRC might have used higher income Jakartans as their sample.
Earlier on Thursday, the party's campaign team chairman, Bambang DH, said that based on field monitoring by 28 city council members from the PDI-P faction, most Jakartans said they would not support the incumbent in the next election. (ags)
