Jokowi, Ahok Underplay Protest against Christian Village Chief
27 August 2013 18:46 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A group of people calling themselves The Forum of Residents against Placement of Lenteng Agung Village Chief—Susan Jasmine Zulkifli, a Christian—staged a protest at the City Hall yesterday, Monday, August 26, 2013. The protest received a chilly response from Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo and Vice Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
“We received a negative response from Ahok,” protest spokesperson Mochamad Rusli told Tempo yesterday at the City Hall. He said they were planning to stage another protest tomorrow. “We are going to stage a peaceful protest tomorrow at the yard of the Lenteng Agung urban village office,” he added.
The protesters said Susan, a non-Muslim, was not supposed to rule an area whose residents were mostly Muslims. The protesters are now collecting signatures and ID cards from locals for their petition.
Governor Jokowi said one’s religion had nothing to do with his or her official position. “I appoint someone based on his or her achievements and skills,” he said.
The governor was certain the placements of urban village and sub-district chiefs, who were selected through a series of auctions, were already proper. He added the city administration could yet evaluate their performances.
“They’ve just been installed, how could we evaluate them?”
Vice Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has also refused the collected signatures the protesters said were proof of the locals’ rejection against Susan.
“Refusing her for having a different religion is not an excuse,” Basuki said, adding that a leader must not necessarily muster support from all of his followers. He took for an example that he and the governor only garnered 52 percent of the total votes in the capital’s gubernatorial race.
Embattled urban village chief Susan Jasmine Zulkifli has called on all parties not to make a big deal out of this issue. “I didn’t commit any mistake. I’m just following the governor’s instruction on my placement,” she said.
M. ANDI PERDANA | ANGGRITA DESYANI