JAKARTA. The Gerindra Party has demanded that Joko “Jokowi” Widodo immediately step down as the Jakarta governor.

“All this time, Pak Jokowi has been very busy handling election campaign activities. Policy implementation has continued to run, but it has been sluggish whereas in Jakarta, policy implementation is not allowed to be delayed even for one hour,” said Mohamad Sanusi, head of the Gerindra faction at the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD), in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

He said Jokowi no longer concentrated on his job as the Jakarta governor. Even if he took leave of absence, he added, Jokowi could not delegate his authority to his deputy, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. As an acting governor, Ahok could not make decisions on strategic policies.

Therefore, Sanusi said, it would be better if Ahok officially took over as the Jakarta governor, which could happen only if Jokowi were to resign.

“The Jakarta administration regional secretary (Sekda), which is now being led by an acting official, has worsened the situation. The governor is on leave, the deputy governor has no authority to make strategic decisions and a regional secretary has not yet been appointed,” said Sanusi.

He further said there was growing public perception that Jokowi’s position as an active governor could be abused in a covert campaign to win the presidency.

Sanusi said it would not be a good example of political ethics if Jokowi refused to resign.

“A leader must be able to give a good example of political ethics. Just look at Gita Wirjawan, who resigned as trade minister when he decided to join the Democratic Party’s presidential convention. Pak Ahok is another example. When he ran for the Jakarta governorship, he resigned from his post as East Belitung regent. This must be acknowleged by Jokowi. He must be fair,” said Sanusi. (ebf)

Editor: Asnil Amri