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Jakarta Post

Ahok to continue ‘blusukan’ despite protests

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, November 14, 2016

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Ahok to continue ‘blusukan’ despite protests Taking feedback – Incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama (second from left) receives a complaint from a local resident at his campaign team headquarters Rumah Lembang on Jl.Lembang, Menteng, Jakarta, on Nov.14. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A.)

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akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama says he will continue to carry out blusukan (impromptu visits) during his campaign although several groups have prevented him from campaigning in certain areas due to his alleged blasphemy.

The non-active governor has said that the groups were not locals of the areas where they had confronted him. “We’ve seen that people who have expelled us and put up banners rejecting [our campaign] are actually not the residents of areas where they have staged their protests,” said Ahok at his campaign team’s headquarters Rumah Lembang on Jl. Lembang, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday.

Ahok refused to claim that the protests were organized, however. The incumbent candidate said he would let the police investigate the protests he and his running mate, deputy governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, were facing.  

Ahok further said that to become a governor he needed 50 percent plus one vote. He said he was aware that he could not secure 100 percent of the vote because of the people who had taken issue with his alleged blasphemy.

During a campaign stop in Rawa Belong, West Jakarta, on Nov. 2, Ahok was rushed to safety by security personnel after several people protested his visit and accused him of committing blasphemy. The incident left one of his aides hospitalized.

In the latest incident on Nov.10, Ahok had to cancel a visit in Kedoya, West Jakarta, after a group of people claiming to be local residents rejected his visit for the same reason. (ebf)

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