TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President-elect Joko Widodo officially tended his resignation as Jakarta governor on Thursday during a plenary session of the Jakarta Legislative Council, as reported by Antara News.
According to Jakarta Globe, in Jokowi's speech before members of the council, also known as DPRD Jakarta, Joko apologized to Jakarta residents for resigning from his governor post halfway through his term, which is supposed to end in 2017.
“There is no tusk without fracture,” Joko said, referring to an Indonesian proverb that means nothing is perfect. “As a human, I have limitations. I’m aware that, like other humans, I’ve made mistakes and errors.
“Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of myself and my family, I apologize to all residents of Jakarta and members of the council for all words, gestures and deeds that may have been unpleasant,” he added.
Joko asked the council to immediately process his resignation.
DPRD Jakarta Speaker Prasetyo Edi Marsudi said the council had received Joko’s resignation letter on September 2.
Another plenary session set to hear the decisions on Joko’s request, however, will only take place next Monday, two weeks before Joko’s inauguration ceremony as Indonesia’s seventh president, which is scheduled for Oct. 20.
Previous media reports have said that Jakarta council members, more than half of whom are part of the Red-and-White Coalition of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, are planning to make the resignation process difficult for Joko.
Muhammad Taufik, a deputy speaker of the council and a member of Prabowo’s Great Indonesia Movement Party, or Gerindra, said shortly before the plenary that Joko would be violating regulations if he insisted on reading his resignation.
“The result would not be legitimate because not all council leaders will attend, so it would be a legal violation if they insisted on having a plenary session today,” Muhammad said as quoted by Jakarta Globe.
Not only Joko’s resignation, but also the ascent of his successor, Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, is predicted to be made difficult by Jakarta council members, following his resignation from Gerindra.
Basuki announced he was leaving Gerindra last month after the coalition it leads at the House of Representatives passed the controversial regional elections bill into law, abolishing elections of regional leaders.
Basuki, though, said he was not concerned about the matter. He said that with or without approval from DPRD Jakarta, he would automatically become at least the acting Jakarta governor, as he did while Joko took leave to campaign for the July 9 presidential election.
“And if the DPRD doesn’t want to hold a plenary session to inaugurate me as the new Jakarta governor, the president through the Home Affairs Ministry, can inaugurate me,” Basuki told reporters at the city hall on Thursday. “That has happened in some other regions.”
Basuki is also facing resistance from some hard-line groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), who said an “arrogant infidel” like him should not lead Jakarta, the majority of whose population are moderate Muslims.
ANTARA NEWS | JAKARTA GLOBE | LENNY TRISTIA TAMBUN
