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PDI-P still open to Ahok: Djarot
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Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri sits with two deputy chairmen, Djarot Saiful Hidayat (right) and Andreas Pareira (center), at a party event in Jakarta. ( Kompas.com/Indra Akuntono)
T
he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) door is still open if Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama wishes to seek the party’s nomination as its candidate for next year’s gubernatorial election.
Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, who is a PDI-P politician, said on Tuesday there was still a chance for Ahok to run with him in the election with the support of the PDI-P as initially planned before Ahok declared himself as an independent candidate.
But Djarot stressed it was up to the party to make the decision on his candidacy. “It will be the PDI-P’s decision to pair him with any candidate. I will accept the party’s assignment whether as gubernatorial or deputy gubernatorial [candidate],” he added.
He said that his party would declare his Jakarta gubernatorial candidature in August.
Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) spokesman Singgih Widyastono said earlier on Tuesday that Ahok would make his decision on Wednesday whether to run as an independent candidate or as the nominated candidate of three political parties – the Golkar Party, Hanura and the NasDem Party.
PDI-P, the largest party in the city council with 28 seats, is the only party able to name a gubernatorial candidate pair in the election without collaboration with other political parties. The threshold is 22 seats for one party or a coalition of political parties to propose candidates.
Meanwhile, Teman Ahok had announced that the group could accept whatever decision was made by Ahok although its volunteers had collected 1 million copies of voter identity cards, more than enough to meet the criteria to run as an independent.
In March, Ahok announced his plan to run as an independent candidate and named Jakarta Finance and Asset Management Board chief Heru Budi Hartono as his running mate. (bbn)
