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Ahok supporters should stick to their guns, legislator says
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Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama appears at a Central Jakarta District Court hearing recently as a witness in the trial of Ariesman Widjaja, former CEO of Agung Podomoro Land (APL), who allegedly bribed city councilor M. Sanusi in connection with the deliberation of two reclamation project bills. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
A
n Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator has lambasted Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s supporters for continuing to back the incumbent despite his decision to run in the 2017 gubernatorial election on a party ticket.
“If they want to support Ahok to run as an independent candidate, they should be consistent with that. It would be a good step, because they will become pioneers for [supporting] such a candidacy. But now, they have become nothing more than followers,” PDI-P politician Masinton Pasaribu said Saturday.
Community of Ahok Supporters (Kompak) spokesperson Tsamara Amany said earlier that the group did not mind if Ahok chose to accept the endorsement of political parties because what they wanted was merely to see him to be reelected as Jakarta governor.
In March, Ahok declared himself an independent candidate for next year’s gubernatorial election.
The governor’s supporters joining with solidarity group Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) recently said that they wanted him to run as an independent despite mounting support from political parties. They also collected 1 million vote pledges to fulfill the independent candidacy requirements of the 2015 Regional Elections Law.
On Wednesday, however, Ahok announced that he would contest the election with support from the Golkar Party, the Hanura Party and the NasDem Party. (wnd/ebf)
