As promised, Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama yesterday revealed whether he would choose the political party route or go for an independent run in his bid for reelection in 2017 – and it’s a decision that’s likely to disappoint many of his fans.
After a halalbihalal (post Idul Fitri gathering) event with representatives of political group Teman Ahok and three pro-Ahok political parties (Golkar, Nasdem, and Hanura) last night, Ahok announced that he has chosen to go the political route for reelection.
“I said before, we must appreciate the political parties’ support. So that’s it, we’re going with political parties, thank you,” Ahok said, as quoted by Kompas.
With the announcement, Ahok’s candidacy in the 2017 election is all but secured, considering that the three political parties that have already committed to supporting him already have enough combined seats in the Jakarta City Council to nominate a candidate.
Teman Ahok previously accomplished the herculean feat of gathering over 1 million KTP ID cards from Jakarta voters who support Ahok running as an independent, but along the way the House of Representatives (DPR) introduced new legislation to make running as an independent extremely difficult. It’s likely that this new legislation played a huge part in Ahok’s decision.
Reader Interactions