Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama 鍾萬學[1]
17th Governor of Jakarta
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2014 Acting: 1 June–22 July 2014 and 16 October–18 November 2014
President	Joko Widodo
Deputy	Djarot Saiful Hidayat
Preceded by	Joko Widodo
Lieutenant Governor of Jakarta
In office 15 October 2012 – 19 November 2014
Governor	Joko Widodo
Preceded by	Prijanto
3rd Regent of East Belitung
In office 3 August 2005 – 22 December 2006
Deputy	Khairul Efendi
Preceded by	Usman Saleh
Succeeded by	Khairul Efendi
Member of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat
In office 1 October 2009 – 26 April 2012
Constituency	Bangka Belitung
Personal details
Born	Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (1966-06-29) 29 June 1966 Manggar, Belitung, Indonesia
Political party	Independent (September 2014–present) Gerindra (2012–2014) Golkar (2008–2012)
Spouse(s)	Veronica Tan
Relations	Indra Tjahaja Purnama (father) Buniarti Ningsih (mother)
Children	Nicholas Nathania Daud Albeenner
Alma mater	Trisakti University STIE Prasetiya Mulya
Profession	Politician
Religion	Protestantism
Website	ahok.org

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (EYD: Basuki Cahaya Purnama, Hakka Chinese: 鍾萬學; Tjung Ban Hok; pinyin: Zhōng Wànxué; born 29 June 1966) is an Indonesian politician who is the current Governor of Jakarta. On 14 November 2014, he was confirmed by Jakarta City Council as the 17th Governor of Jakarta and was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on 18 November.^[2] He was formerly a legislator in the Indonesian People's Representative Council and Regent of East Belitung.^[3] He is also known by his Hakka affectionate nickname, Ahok (Chinese: 阿學).

Born in Manggar, East Belitung, Basuki was a graduate of Trisakti University and Prasetiya Mulya Business School. He was a member of Commission II of the House of Representatives for the 2009–2014 term. However, he resigned from the position in 2012 to run for the Lieutenant Governor position in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

He became the running mate of Joko Widodo in the 2012 Jakarta gubernatorial election. They won the election with 53.82% of the votes. The ticket was nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).^[4]

Governor Joko Widodo, or popularly known as Jokowi, took a temporary leave from the post of Jakarta governor to run as the presidential candidate. Basuki was sworn in as acting Governor of Jakarta, on 2 June. As Jokowi was elected as president, Basuki succeeded him as Governor. According to the Jakarta Post, he is the first ethnic Chinese and the first Christian to be the Governor of Jakarta.^[5] However, the New York Times states that a governor appointed in the 1960s was also ethnic Chinese and Christian.^[6] In 10 September 2014, Basuki officially left Gerindra due to a dispute on a proposed bill on regional elections. Since then, he has become a politically unaffiliated governor.

Personal life

Early life

Basuki was born on 29 June 1966 and grew up in Manggar, East Belitung. He is the first son of Buniarti Ningsih (Boen Nen Tjauw) and the late Indra Tjahaja Purnama (Tjoeng Kiem Nam).^[7] Basuki has three siblings, Basuri Tjahaja Purnama, Fifi Lety, and Harry Basuki. His family is of Chinese Indonesian descent.

Education

Basuki was enrolled in the Trisakti University, a private university in Jakarta and majored in Mineral Resources & Technology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering in 1989 and he returned to his hometown in Belitung to build a company which deals in mining contracts.

After he worked for two years in the company, he decided to pursue a Master's Degree in Financial Management at Prasetya Mulya Business School in Jakarta. He graduated as a Master of Business Administration (MBA).^[8]

Political career

A target of racism

Basuki, who first entered politics in his home region of Belitung, and repeated his success in Jakarta, thinks Indonesia is moving toward a rupture with a long and often violent history of prejudice and resentment.^[9] Only a month into office, Basuki has confronted key issues related to traffic congestion, labor, and the bureaucracy. He successfully mediated a minimum wage increase, proposed incentives for street vendors to move to designated markets in order to reduce congestion, launched surprise inspections of government offices, and proposed installing closed circuit televisions to improve accountability.^[10]

Due to his ethnicity, Basuki has frequently become the subject of racist statements. During the 2012 gubernatorial race, he was targeted regularly by ultra-conservatives and supporters of rival candidates for being a non-Muslim. Early in his term, a lawyer named Farhat Abbas mentioned him in a tweet in which he used a very clear racial slur against him. The tweet drew condemnation from many.^[11] Regardless, Basuki had said that he would not sue Farhat for hate speech and that he would not need to apologize for his tweet.^[12] Furthermore, Basuki's "double minority" background has made him a target of the hardliner Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). The group called for the revision of the Jakarta constitution to remove some of the governor's responsibilities for government-affiliated Islamic organizations.^[13]

Numerous hardliner groups staged several violent protests opposing him in the weeks leading to his inauguration, mentioning his background as a reason.^[14] In contrast, most mainstream Muslim organizations and communities threw support behind Basuki.^[15]

References