Netizen petitions for Ahok to run for Bali governor after Jakarta loss, #AhokforBali1 becomes trending topic

It’s been a difficult time for Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama supporters after the Jakarta governor lost his bid for reelection last week to Anies Baswedan. There’s been a lot of tears and staring blankly into space—so we’ve heard.

But not everyone is withering away from the election results in depression. One netizen has dared to dream a dream that will most likely never come true, but would no doubt be very interesting, with a petition for Ahok to run as Bali’s governor.

Shared to Change.org on April 19 by ‘Wika’ from Perth, the petition is entitled ‘Ahok for Bali 1’ and has already reached over 7,000 supporters of its goal of 7,500.

With its rapid development, Bali’s facing a number of challenges like the reclamation of Benoa Bay, a growing inequality gap between different regions of the island, and other issues like thuggery. So why not ‘utilize’ Ahok for these urgent issues facing Bali, the petition argues.

Simply put, “Bali needs an ‘extraordinary’ leader” to respond to the province’s current challenges, Wika wrote.

Fair enough, Ahok can be quite the badass, after all.

Following the petition, the tag #AhokForBali1 has been trending in Indonesia, becoming one of the top topics in the country this week.

Keep calm & pray for #ahokforBali1

— Adi Maendra (@adi_maendra) April 25, 2017

#ahokforbali1 setuju….!!!

— yulpay bassist (@yulpay) April 25, 2017

(Agree…!!!)

With memes aplenty!

https://twitter.com/anjani56570756/status/856721306640818176

https://twitter.com/SiBonekaKayu/status/856176498956529664

But would Hindu-dominated Bali ever really elect a non-Hindu governor? Apparently some people would be down:

Vote! #ahokforBali1 pic.twitter.com/7hvUCx22Fe

— kertas minyak (@clearholder88) April 25, 2017

(Better to have a non-Hindu without corruption, than a Hindu with corruption.)

He does have Balinese style dance down pat, after all!

@BoengParno @NetizenTofa @PartaiSocmed @temanAhok @sahaL_AS Tari Bali nya juga pas ! #AhokForBali1 pic.twitter.com/rBwAYnM1NG

— Laksamana®️ (@Nazta08) April 25, 2017

While there’s no evidence to suggest Ahok could or would run for Bali’s governor, it sure is an intriguing idea.

Bali’s current governor is Made Mangku Pastika, who is now serving his second term in office, which will expire in 2018.