The political future of former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama after he is finished serving his controversial prison sentence for blasphemy has been the subject of much speculation in Indonesia, and now one of the people closest to him has hinted that he will indeed return to politics upon his release next month.
PDI-P senior politician Djarot Saiful Hidayat, who served as Ahok’s vice governor from 2014-2017 and ran with him in their failed bid for reelection in 2017, told the media yesterday that Ahok — who is currently not a member of any political party — will join PDI-P after his scheduled release in January.
“He (Ahok) said, ‘If I go into politics later, I will definitely join PDI-P,’” Djarot said relaying his conversation with Ahok when the two met in prison recently, as quoted by Kumparan.
Djarot added that Ahok is grateful that PDI-P stuck by him during his blasphemy trial.
“When he was being battered like he was in Jakarta, I was being battered, those who dared to defend us and show their worth were PDI-P cadres,” he said.
Furthermore, Djarot said Ahok is fully backing President Joko Widodo in next April’s election (despite the fact that Ma’ruf Amin, the Indonesian Ulema Council chairman who signed off on the blasphemy fatwa against Ahok that eventually led to the Chinese-Indonesian politician’s imprisonment, is now Jokowi’s running mate).
Ahok has had a long career in Indonesian politics, including a stint at Golkar before switching over to Gerindra, who gave him the platform to run and be elected as Jakarta’s vice governor under then-Governor Jokowi in 2012. When Jokowi cut his tenure as governor short to become president in 2014, Ahok, who had ditched Gerindra by then, was promoted and took Djarot as his vice governor.
The pair was seemingly on course for reelection in 2017 until Ahok was hit with trumped up charges of blasphemy against Islam, which led to mass protests in Jakarta and his, and Djarot’s, eventual defeat. Ahok was also sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy in May of that year.
Politics aside, Ahok’s first order of business upon his release is likely going to be a private matter, namely his rumored marriage to his ex-wife’s former bodyguard.
