Despite volunteer group Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) already securing enough voter IDs for Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to run as an independent candidate in the 2017 gubernatorial race, the governor himself hasn’t actually ruled out political party endorsement for his campaign.
But today, Ahok may have given the strongest indication yet that he will indeed run as an independent candidate, just like many, particularly members of Teman Ahok, are hoping for.
“I have to speak with Teman Ahok. What’s clear is that I don’t want to disappoint them,” Ahok said, as quoted by Kompas.
Ahok added that he appreciates the hard work put in by Teman Ahok in collecting more than enough voter IDs than required for him to run as an independent. At the time of writing, Teman Ahok has collected over 680,000 IDs and is aiming for 1 million.
We hope that Ahok will deliver good news when he meets with members of Teman Ahok. Anything other than a commitment by Ahok to run as an independent would most likely be seen as a disappointment to Teman Ahok.
On the other hand, it’s been reported that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which President and former Governor Jokowi is a member, intends to endorse Ahok in the next elections. Pragmatically speaking, that would actually be a wise move for Ahok if he wants to establish a working relationship with the Jakarta City Council, which is dominated by members of the PDI-P.
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