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I'd rather be arrested and jailed than drop out of race: Ahok
Incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said certain parties have asked him to drop out of the gubernatorial race.
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Staying in: Incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama leaves the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department in Jakarta on Monday after being questioned in relation to blasphemy allegations. Ahok says he will stay in the race amid calls for him to drop out. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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ncumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said certain parties have asked him to drop out of the gubernatorial race.
“I’d rather be arrested and jailed than drop out of the race,” Ahok said in the Pantai Mutiara area, North Jakarta, on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.
(Read also: Political actors take advantage of situation: Jokowi)
Without naming the parties, Ahok said he had been asked to drop out on security concerns in the capital.
He claimed the parties said demonstrations against him would continue if he stayed in the race.
He added that the situation would affect the stability of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration.
“If the President was forced to step down, the situation would become uncontrollable in Jakarta,” he said.
He said the parties had used blasphemy allegations lodged against him as reason to reject him.
Ahok has apologized for a statement he made during a visit to Thousand Islands regency in late September in which his remarks were deemed blasphemous.
“So, at the end, they [the parties] are just afraid of me being governor. Why they are so afraid of me?” Ahok said.
Earlier, a group of people staged a rally against Ahok, who was campaigning in the Rawa Belong area, West Jakarta.
Thousands of people took part in a demonstration in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Nov. 4, demanding the police press ahead with legal action against Ahok over allegations of blasphemy. (jun)
