Ahok Pilih Mundur dari Gerindra setelah Tolak RUU Pilkada
Incoming Jakarta Governor Quits Prabowo Party Over Election Bill
Reporter : Rizki Saleh
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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Jakarta (B2B) - Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Wakil Gubernur DKI Jakarta menyatakan telah resmi mengundurkan diri dari partai politik yang diusungnya, yaitu Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerindra).
"Sudah resmi mundur. Terhitung sejak saya kirimkan surat pengunduran diri pada hari ini. Jadi, saya bukan orang partai politik lagi," kata Basuki di Balai Kota, Jakarta Pusat, Rabu.
Pria yang akrab disapa Ahok itu mengatakan pengunduran diri tersebut didasari atas pandangan yang berbeda dengan partainya terkait wacana Rancangan Undang-Undang (RUU) Pemilihan Kepala Daerah (Pilkada) yang tengah dibahas oleh DPR RI.
Menurut dia, Gerindra merupakan salah satu partai yang mendorong agar RUU tersebut disahkan. Apabila RUU itu disahkan, maka kepala daerah akan ditentukan oleh DPRD.
"Kepala daerah yang dipilih oleh rakyat saja masih berpotensi untuk melakukan tindakan korupsi. Apalagi kalau dipilih oleh anggota DPRD setempat. Bisa jadi nanti malah lebih mementingkan kepentingan partainya, bukan kepentingan rakyat," ujar Ahok.
Dia menuturkan di dalam Anggaran Dasar/Anggaran Rumah Tangga (AD/ART) partai, tercantum kewajiban anggota untuk mendukung dan menyukseskan seluruh program partai politik yang diusung.
"Kalau partai saya mendukung RUU itu, sedangkan sebenarnya RUU itu bertentangan dengan hati nurani saya, ya saya nyatakan mengundurkan diri karena saya tidak bisa menjadi anggota partai yang baik dengan mendukung RUU tersebut," tutur Ahok.
Oleh karena itu, mantan Bupati Belitung Timur itu pun selanjutnya memutuskan untuk fokus menyelesaikan program-program untuk pembangunan Kota Jakarta.
"Bagi saya, DPRD itu hanya pengawasan anggaran dan legislasi, jadi tidak bisa mengontrol saya. Kalau yang mengontrol saya, ya rakyat. Saya lebih memilih bekerja untuk rakyat," ungkap Ahok.
Jakarta (B2B) - The incoming governor of the Indonesian capital Jakarta has quit the party of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto over its support for a controversial bid to scrap local direct elections.
"Today, I have prepared the letter and will send it to the partys leadership council also today. I am informing that I decided to quit Gerindra Party," Ahok stated here on Wednesday.
He explained that his decision to leave the party arose from his disagreement with the partys proposal regarding a bill on indirect regional head elections. Since the reform era, Indonesia has been holding direct presidential, regional, and legislative elections.
But, a bill is now being tabled to amend the election system, according to which the regional heads will be elected by regional legislators rather than being directly elected by the people.
Ahok stated that he was disappointed with the political parties and vowed to focus on implementing his tasks to govern Jakarta.
Ahok said he was not worried about Gerindra labeling him as ungrateful as the party had promoted him to the deputy gubernatorial seat during the direct gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial elections in Jakarta in 2012.
Besides this, Ahok pointed out that he was promoted not only by Gerindra but also the PDIP during the direct elections.
The members of the House of Representatives (DPR) are divided over the proposal to elect regional heads indirectly.
The All-Indonesia District Government Association (APKASI), however, opposes the proposal to return regional head elections to the local legislative councils (DPRD), arguing that it runs contrary to the mandate of reform movements.
"Regional head elections that involve the peoples direct participation are one of the fruits of the 1998 reform struggle. Therefore, the direct regional head elections, which are more transparent, must not be returned to the DPRD," APKASI General Chairman Isran Noor remarked here on Sunday.
Returning the direct regional head elections to the DPRD amounts to depriving the people of their political rights, he claimed.
If regional heads are elected by the DPRD, they will ponder over ways to reciprocate the favors of the local legislators who have elected them, and thus, they will hardly work towards the welfare of the people, he added.
