When volunteer group Teman Ahok announced that they had accomplished their goal of collecting 1 million KTP ID cards mark in support of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s independent run for re-election in 2017, it certainly wasn’t great news for a certain politician.
In case anyone’s forgotten (though evidently many haven’t), Gerindra party politician Habiburokhman made a ridiculous bet back earlier this year that he would jump off the top of Monas (National Monument) if Teman Ahok is able to collect the minimum number of KTPs required to make Ahok eligible for an independent run, which was around half a million.
So when Teman Ahok announced they collected double that amount, many Indonesian netizens called on Habiburokhman to fulfill his promise, consequently making the hashtag #AyoLoncat (#GoJump) trending on Twitter.
Good luck @habiburokhman, we long for a politician who’s man enough to fulfill his promises, you’re our only hope.
Dying in the fasting month is good, om @habiburokhman
Habiburokhman seemingly already anticipated that people would call on him to jump, because he tweeted his reasons for not following through on his promise yet shortly after Teman Ahok announced they have collected 1 million KTPs.
One of the arguments he gave above was that the number of KTPs collected is just a one-sided claim by Teman Ahok – a group, he wrote, that is embroiled in corruption and is only determined to increase the popularity of a hated leader, Ahok.
To be fair to Habiburokhman, we won’t know for certain if Teman Ahok has actually collected 1 million KTPs until all of the KTPs are officially verified by the Regional General Elections Commission (KPUD). However, the House of Parliament recently passed a new law requiring the KPUD to verify every single one of the KTPs personally within a short 14-day period, a stipulation some see as physically impossible to meet and created specifically to halt Ahok’s independent run.
So we’ll have to wait to see if the KTPs can be verified or not. And if they are, we’re sure there’ll be renewed calls for Habiburokhman to jump off of Monas, and brand new excuses from him as to why he won’t.
