Clearly Golkar knows which way the political winds are blowing.
The party’s Central Executive Board (DPP) declared yesterday that it would support Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in his 2017 campaign. Many parties, including President Joko Widodo’s PDI-P, have been courting Ahok, but Golkar is the first major party to declare that they will be supporting Ahok even if he decides to run as an independent candidate.
“No matter if Ahok goes forward through independent channels. The important thing is that Golkar supports him with all of our strength,” Yorrys Raweyai, Golkar’s DPP chairman, said at a press conference yesterday as quoted by Tempo.
What would Golkar have to gain by supporting Ahok were he to run as an independent? Yorrys said that their support of Ahok was a “long-term investment” for Golkar in that it would raise their stock with young voters, like the many who are supporting the governor’s independent run through Teman Ahok. He also said that Golkar was in communication with the volunteer group about their support.
Ahok is heavily favored to win the 2017 election based on currently polling, but it remains unclear whether Ahok will actually take the independent path after the House of Representatives passed a new Regional Election Bill (RUU Pilkada) that will make it much more difficult for Teman Ahok to verify the nearly 1 million ID cards they have collected in support of the governor’s independent run.
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