Today, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Vice Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat started their legally mandated election campaign leave as the pair are set to contest the runoff election against Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno on April 19.
Replacing Ahok between now and April 15 – the last day of the campaign period – is a man Jakartans are already familiar with: Soni Sumarsono.
Sumarsono was previously chosen by the Ministry of Home Affairs to lead the Jakarta Provincial Government for four months as Ahok went on leave during the first election campaign period. He has been tapped to be Ahok’s temporary replacement once again for the next month-and-a-half.
During the position handover ceremony at City Hall last night, Ahok handed Sumarsono a list of items the caretaker governor must focus on while in office, such as the construction of parks and mosques, as well as problems regarding public transportation in the city.
“I’m confident [Sumarsono] can take care of all of that in one-and-a-half months. He’s a working man, resilient,” Ahok said, as quoted by Sindonews yesterday.
Sumarsono may be the logical choice for the job from an experience standpoint, but he was the subject of several controversies during his previous stint as caretaker governor. Most notably, Sumarsono allegedly abused his limited authority on several occasions, and he approved several budget requests to increase the allowance of City Council members.
