Gerindra politician says he’ll jump off of Monas if Ahok gets enough voter IDs for independent run

Indonesia’s most controversial politicians have been known to make ridiculous, infantile bets to try and get the media’s attention.

Gerindra party politician Habiburokhman is the latest politician to go down that route with a sensationalist bet on his own life. He recently tweeted that he would jump off of Monas (National Monument) if Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama gathers enough voter IDs to run as an independent candidate in the 2017 gubernatorial elections.

Seriously. And this guy’s the head of the Advocacy Department in the Gerindra party Central Leadership Council. His Twitter account wasn’t hacked either – he confirmed to Tempo that he wrote the tweet himself.

So, what are the chances of Habiburokhman surviving his own bet?

Well, volunteer group Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) has collected over 300,000 Jakartan voter IDs since March 9th. Ahok needs a minimum of 532,000 voter IDs to guarantee his independent run by July, so barring an unfortunate disaster, he should be able to get that many and much, much more before the cut off date.

Ahok responded to Habiburokhman’s bet in typical Ahok fashion.

“Just jump… We’re going to provide an ambulance for him,” he said with a laugh, as quoted by Kompas on Saturday.

Teman Ahok spokesperson Singgih Widyastomo said they found the bet to be quite humorous.

“Statements like that have been laughed at by Teman Ahok. It’s just that, such a statement is not very ethical if it came from a politician,” he said, as quoted by Tempo.

We’re not betting people, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Habiburokhman doesn’t end up splattered all over Monas grounds should he lose the bet, as he’ll probably just find some excuse to weasel his way out of making the jump.

He’s not the first politician to make a Monas-related bet either – former Democratic Chairman Anas Urbaningrum once claimed that he should be hanged on Monas should he be proven to be corrupt. But of course, he never hanged himself, even after the Corruption Eradication Commission arrested him for graft.