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Ahok returns to office, for now
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National Monument Park or Monas Square. (Shutterstock/Georgina Captures)
I
t has been one month since Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama left City Hall to campaign for reelection in the capital’s runoff election and to defend himself in a blasphemy trial by taking an official leave of absence.
Sunday marked the first full day Ahok reassumed his position from acting governor Sumarsono.
Yet, Ahok’s tenure as governor might be short-lived as the prosecutors at his blasphemy case are scheduled to read their sentence demand on April 20, the day after voting day.
If the prosecutors decide to charge Ahok with religious blasphemy of Article 156a of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP), which carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, then Ahok would be temporarily dismissed until the judges reach a verdict, as mandated by the 2014 law on regional administration.
“Because Article 156a carries a maximum five-year sentence, the law will require him to be temporarily dismissed from his seat,” Chudry Sitompul, a law expert from the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post.
Article 83, Item 1 of the Regional Administration Law stipulates that a regional head should be dismissed temporarily without recommendation from the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) if he or she faces criminal charges with a minimum prison sentence of five years.
However, Ahok could still hold his position if he is charged under Article 156, which only carries a maximum sentence of four years prison time, according to Chudry.
Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo previously said the decision on whether Ahok would be temporarily dismissed or not would have to wait until the sentence demand reading by the prosecutors.
Should Ahok not be dismissed, he would serve as the governor of Jakarta for at least another six months, even if he loses the gubernatorial race to his rival, Anies Baswedan.
Various surveys released just days prior to the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election on April 19 have indicated that the race is one of the tightest in the capital’s history, with no clear frontrunner.
Four out of the five surveys released last week showed Anies Baswedan to be in the lead, albeit with small margins, with a recent survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia showing the margin to be as small as 0.8 percent.
The only survey that showed Ahok to be winning was released by Charta Politika Indonesia.
According to that survey, Ahok has an electability rating of 47.3 percent, compared to 44.8 percent held by Anies.
The survey, which involved 782 respondents across Jakarta from April 7 to 12, showed that while the electability of Ahok-Djarot plummeted from November 2016 to January, it rose again from February to April.
On Sunday, Ahok spent his first day back as governor attending a discussion on the revitalization of the Kota Tua area in West Jakarta, one of his signature projects as governor.
During the discussion, Ahok declared he would continue the revitalization of the area as well as nearby historic sites for the next six months of his leadership.
The sites include Luar Batang Mosque and the Sunda Kelapa Port in North Jakarta.
Among the actions he aid he would take to beautify the Kota Tua area were fixing and widening the sidewalks from Kota Tua to several tourism spots surrounding it, including the Bahari Museum in North Jakarta.
“Hundreds of tourists will visit Kota Tua if we take good care of it. Therefore, we have to provide tourists with other nice tourism spots, like Sunda Kelapa Port, the Bahari Museum and the Luar Batang Mosque as well as proper sidewalks,” Ahok said at the Fine Arts and Ceramics Museum in Kota Tua. “We also have to arrange the houses there.”
The governor said he felt blessed to have six months to “beautify the city.”
“[If citizens do not trust me to lead the city again] we still have time, six months to complete [this mission],” Ahok said. “I am sure that the foundation we have created is good.”
After declaring to revamp the Mbah Priok memorial site in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, as it was designated as a cultural heritage site in March, the governor also planned to renovate Luar Batang Mosque. “I want the mosque to have a huge alun-alun [town square] or field,” he previously said.
The governor also mentioned the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project in the discussion, saying that it would continue despite protests from fisherfolk.
Ahok said there would be a 10-hectare man-made island dedicated to fisherfolk, in which the city administration would build low-cost apartments to accommodate the fisherfolk as well as provide moorings for their boats.
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has released a report on the track records of the city’s gubernatorial candidates, revealing incumbent Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama may excel in preserving diversity, while Anies Baswedan, with his promise to humanely develop the capital, may end the current practice of forced evictions.
Nelson Nikodemus Simamora, a lawyer with the institute, said during his term as governor, Ahok had shown his commitment to protecting the rights of minorities, including Ahmadis and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, something that had never been touched upon by Anies on the campaign trail.
“Basuki protected the rights of Ahmadis to worship in their mosque in Bukit Duri when dozens of people expelled them from that area,” Nelson said recently, referring to an incident that occurred in July 2015.
Nelson credited the move as brave.
The governor said in 2016 that even though all religions condemned LGBT people, he could not pass judgment on them.
The most important thing was that the administration tried to prevent HIV transmission among this group, Nelson said, citing Ahok’s statement.
On the other hand, Anies’ commitment to preserving diversity had been questioned after visiting Islam Defenders Front (FPI) headquarters in Petamburan, West Jakarta in January.
The institute noted that Anies had never expressed concern for minorities, including Ahmadis, Shiites and Christians who faced difficulties in establishing churches.
The former culture and education minister once referred to LGBT people as deviants, a statement that indicated his lack of research on the LGBT community, Nelson said.
While the governor stands accused of blasphemy, Anies has said nothing to reduce heightened tensions amid the ongoing case.
“Anies should’ve commented to ease tensions and ‘restore’ the election as a contest of programs. However, he said nothing,” Nelson said.
Nevertheless, the institute said it believed both candidates had failed to show their commitment to upholding freedom of expression.
Ahok and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat appeared to do nothing in February 2016 while police and several mass organizations dispersed a leftist event called the Belok Kiri (Turn Left) Festival at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), Cikini, Central Jakarta.
As for Anies, during a campaign event in Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta in January, he, who was once deemed a figure of moderate Islam, was unperturbed to see a banner urging people to uphold the state ideology Pancasila and expel members of the nowdefunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) from the country.
Anies said such a statement should be respected as a form of freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Anies’ vow to not conduct forced evictions but urban renewal that engaged public aspirations should be appreciated, Nelson said.
Anies has stated his plan to develop other housing options instead of carrying out evictions.
The former minister signed on April 8 a political contract with the Urban Poor Network (JMRK) and Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) in Ancol, North Jakarta, which, among others, stated his promise to adjust spatial planning in favor of the residents and legalize their houses, should he be elected governor.
“That promise should be appreciated. His promise is in accordance with morality,” Nelson said.
The institute noted that the number of forced evictions had significantly increased during Ahok’s tenure.
There were 113 cases of forced evictions in 2015 involving police and military personnel, affecting the livelihoods of 8,145 families and activities of 6,283 businesses.
The research found that 84 percent of those cases were conducted without proper dialogue with residents.
In September 2016, the incumbent refused to respect the ongoing legal process related to a classaction lawsuit filed by Bukit Duri residents against evictions.
The administration, however, went ahead and evicted the Bukit Duri residents in late September 2016.
A panel of judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled in favor of the Bukit Duri residents in January, declaring the evictions had violated the law.
