There has been much speculation about what the future holds for former Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama after he finishes serving the prison sentence for his controversial blasphemy conviction. His former right-hand man and vice governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, said on Monday that Ahok planned to join the party of President Joko Widodo, PDI-P.
Although there’s been no official confirmation that the polarizing politician will actually join upon his release, senior PDI-P politician Aria Bima said that his party has “opened their door” to Ahok. But that door swings pretty wide because Bima said that almost anybody could potentially join PDI-P, including the firebrand cleric who was instrumental in sending Ahok to prison: Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) founder Rizieq Shihab.
“So, not just Ahok, be it Habib Rizieq, be it Munarman, be it Kapitra, please [join PDI-P] by all means. Because PDI-P is a home for people of the nation. Others can join as well,” Aria told CNN Indonesia today.
The Kapitra that Aria was referring to is Kapitra Ampera, a hardline Islamist figure best known in the past for being one of Rizieq’s personal lawyers who is running as a PDI-P legislative candidate in 2019. Munarman is another long-time FPI official, although he has not joined a political party.
The party’s openness to Rizieq joining is not out of the blue. In August, PDI-P officials said Jokowi was open to receiving an endorsement from Rizieq Shihab, who is currently in
Saudi Arabia after fleeing there last year to escape his infamous pornography case. Jokowi’s running mate — Ma’ruf Amin, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the highest clerical body in the country — is said to serve as an important bridge between Jokowi and Rizieq.
Aria said PDI-P is open to anybody who wants to contribute to Indonesia’s development, but said they had to uphold the spirit of nationalism and maintain the foundations of the constitution and Pancasila.
The PDI-P official went so far as to say that joining his or any other political party was a human right. While he acknowledged there would be both pros and cons to having Ahok join his party, Aria said people should not think of it as some sort of political maneuver.
Djarot, who is also a senior PDI-P politician told the media on Monday that Ahok — who is currently not a member of any political party — would 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, 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 spearheaded by Rizieq Shihab’s FPI and other hardline Islamic groups. The protests led to his, and Djarot’s, eventual defeat in the election and to Ahok being 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.
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