It has never been easy for people from minority groups to penetrate Indonesia’s political scene, with top political seats in the country largely filled by people of the majority religion and ethnicity.

So when Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent from the small town of Belitung Timur in Bangka Belitung, was inaugurated as the governor of Jakarta in November 2014, it was considered a political milestone in the country.

It took a decade for Ahok to secure the top seat at the capital since he started his political career in 2004, when he ran for a seat at Belitung Timur Regional Council (DPRD).

After slowly building his political career for a decade, Ahok has finally stepped out of the political spotlight, at least for now, as he submitted a letter of resignation from his position as Jakarta governor to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Tuesday.

In the letter dated May 23, Ahok wrote that he would resign in consideration of the North Jakarta District Court’s verdict and sentence on May 9 and the Presidential Decree dated May 12, which ordered Ahok’s temporary dismissal as governor.

The letter was signed by Ahok at the Police Mobile Brigade Command headquarters detention center, Depok, West Java, where he is currently being detained.

“On May 23, Ahok delivered a letter of resignation from his position as Jakarta’s governor to the President, one day after dropping his appeal [against his two-year prison sentence for blasphemy],” Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said on Wednesday. “He should, therefore, be dismissed as soon as possible and Djarot will replace him as definitive governor.”

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