Who would Batman side with in the 2019 Indonesian presidential election? Well, that’s a stupid question given he’s a fictional character (albeit the most kickass of all time) but one political group called Batman seems bat-set on endorsing the ticket of President Joko Widodo and his running mate Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Chairman Ma’ruf Amin.
Many supporters of former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama are in a pickle when it comes to next year’s election. While support for Ahok almost always meant support for Jokowi by extension due to the pair’s close relationship and political similarities, many were seriously disappointed that Jokowi picked Ma’ruf, the man who issued the fatwa (religious edict) ruling that Ahok committed blasphemy against Islam that led to his eventual imprisonment, as his VP candidate.
Ma’ruf seems keen to make amends and regain the voters that Jokowi would’ve had locked down if it weren’t for his nomination, starting by meeting with Ahok supporter groups soon.
“To me, I have to socialize with all parties for the unity of the nation. The unity of the nation must be given top priority,” Ma’ruf said yesterday about the plan, as quoted by Detik.
One Ahok supporter group keen on the idea is Batman, which, in line with many forced abbreviations in Indonesia, stands for “Basuki Tjahaja Purnama Mania”.
“Batman will definitely support Jokowi wholeheartedly. Because the [2017] Jakarta gubernatorial election is over, then all Batman members are all Jokowi Mania members. According to our data, there are 30,000 in Jakarta,” Batman Chairman Immanuel Ebenezer told Detik.
Eben added that Batman is ready to forgive and forget Ma’ruf’s role in the fatwa against Ahok, which led to his defeat in the 2017 gubernatorial election and two-year imprisonment.
“This nation, if it always holds on to the past, will never move forward. We want this nation to move forward and always look to the future. So I say Ma’ruf’s role in hurting us Ahokers (Ahok supporters) is in the past and we want to look forward to the future,” he said.
Not everybody on Ahok’s side is a fan of Ma’ruf, however. Chief among them is Ahok’s sister and lawyer Fifi Lety Indra, who still seems to hold a grudge against the Islamic scholar.
“Well, good thing he’s not meeting me. That would be troublesome,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Ahok himself has not personally revealed his political stance for when he gets out of prison next year — that is if he were to return to politics at all. But Jokowi’s political party, PDI-P, seem keen to have him on their side despite the blasphemy baggage that he carries, possibly because Ahok still commands a great deal of respect and adulation from people all over Indonesia.
