Showing a level of maturity we have come to expect from them, several members Jakarta City Council have reportedly taken to showing their displeasure with Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama by making the above graphic into their display picture on Blackberry Messenger.
The graphic is a play on the logo for Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), the group that is trying to collect 1 million signatures in support of Ahok running as an independent candidate in the 2017 Jakarta governor’s race.
The BBM icon used by the city councilors has been changed to make it say “I’m not willing to be friends with Ahok” with the added hashtag #KarenaGuaMasihWaras (#BecauseI’mStillSane)
One member of the council known to be using the icon is PDI-P member Panji Virgianto. He and others on the council are angry at Ahok’s accusations that they were abusing the city’s budget for personal gain, as in the infamous and ongoing UPS scandal.
Teman Ahok’s archrivals, Lawan Ahok (Enemies of Ahok) said that Panji using the graphic was a sign that he and PDI-P (the party of President Joko Widodo) support their group, though neither Panji of PDI-P has expressed that explicitly.
When showed the graphic, Ahok acted the way we expected him to, laughing it off.
“Ha ha ha, that’s great dong. I’m happy if they’re not willing [to be friends with me],” Ahok said as quoted by Kompas today.
