Last week the Gerindra party announced that it was planning to elect businessman Sandiaga Uno to challenge current Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in the 2017 gubernatorial election.
Ahok, never one to back down from a fight, said he welcomed Sandiaga’s challenge and in fact says that even more of Indonesia’s best and brightest should join the race so that the citizens of Jakarta can pick the most deserving person for the job.
“Jakarta residents will get the best of the best governor,” Ahok said at City Hall today, as quoted by Viva.
Ahok specifically mentioned several leaders. including Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil, Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, Solo Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo and Banyuwangi Governor Abdullah Azwar Anas, as the kind of regional leaders with good track records who should battle him to lead Jakarta.
Having the best regional leaders competing for the governorship of Jakarta is a good thing not just for the capital but for all of Indonesia, Ahok argued. It meant that they would work extra hard to improve their own areas in the run up to the election to show Jakartans how effective they were as leaders. He said something similar happened when Joko Widodo, who was previously the mayor of Solo, competed against then Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo in 2012.
Of course, Ahok mentioned the fact that Sandiaga is a businessman who has never been actually held a government office, so it would be hard for people to judge his ability to govern.
“Yes [Sandiaga Uno] has never been a government official. There are many activists, commentators, activists from 1966 and 1998 that are great that then became government officials, right? So the people can judge,” Ahok said, as quoted by Kompas.
