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
Vice Governor of Jakarta
In office 15 October 2012 – 19 November 2014
Governor	Joko Widodo
Preceded by	Prijanto
Succeeded by	Djarot Saiful Hidayat
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 Sean Purnama Nathania Daud Albeenner
Alma mater	Trisakti University STIE Prasetiya Mulya
Profession	Politician
Religion	Protestantism
Website	ahok.org

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

He was also 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 Jakarta governor election.

According to The Jakarta Post, he is the first Chinese Indonesian and the first Christian to be the Governor of Jakarta.^[4] However, the New York Times and Vice News claim that a governor appointed in the 1960s, Henk Ngantung, was also ethnic Chinese and Christian.^[5][6]

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.

Education

Basuki attended Trisakti University majoring in Mineral Resources & Technology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological Engineering in 1989 and returned to his hometown in Belitung to build a company which dealt in mining contracts.

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

Family

Basuki is married to Veronica Tan and the couple have three kids, Nicolas Sean, Natania, and Daud Albeneer.^[9]

Political career

Early involvement with politics

Basuki entered politics in his home region of Belitung. He ran in the 2005 East Belitung regent election with Khairul Effendi as his running mate and was elected as regent with 37.13% of the vote. Basuki believes that Indonesia is breaking with the past, that had a long and often violent history of prejudice and resentment. He is nicknamed "The Father" and "The Law" for strong actions against corruption.^[10] After a month in office, Basuki confronted key issues related to traffic congestion, labor, corruption and the bureaucracy. He mediated a minimum wage increase, proposed incentives for street vendors to move to designated markets in order to reduce congestion, migrating poor villagers into new flats, launched sudden inspections of government offices, and proposed installing closed circuit televisions to improve accountability.^[11]

2007 Bangka-Belitung gubernatorial election

Basuki resigned from his position as East Belitung regent on 11 December 2006 in order to run in the 2007 Bangka-Belitung gubernatorial election. Among his supporters was former president Abdurrahman Wahid who personally campaigned for him. Wahid praised Ahok's healthcare reforms.

Basuki was defeated by Eko Maulana Ali.

In 2008, Basuki wrote a biography titled Merubah Indonesia (Reforming Indonesia)^[12]

Parliamentary career

In 2009, Basuki was elected into the parliament, as a Golkar politician. He was elected with 119,232 votes ^[13] and was assigned to the Second Commission.^[14] In 2011, he created a controversy during a visit to his local constituency. He was recorded by the local media condemning local tin mining businesses for causing environmental damage. The comment was regarded as an insult by a local youth NGO, who reported him to the House Ethics Committee.^[15]

Jakarta's deputy governor

In 2011, Basuki considered to to run as Jakarta governor as an independent. However, he decided not to run as he was pessimistic about his chances on getting 250 thousand signatures, the requirement for running as an independent gubernatorial candidate in Jakarta.^[16] However, he then ran along Joko Widodo in the 2012 election as his running mate. Jokowi and Basuki won 1.847.157 (42,60%) votes in the first round, and 2.472.130 (53,82%) in the second round, defeating incumbernt governor Fauzi Bowo.^[17][18] The ticket was nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).^[19] On 10 September 2014, Basuki left Gerindra due to a dispute on a proposed bill on regional elections. Since then, he becomes politically unaffiliated.

Governorship

When Joko Widodo took a temporary leave from his post as Jakarta governor to run for President, Basuki became the acting Governor of Jakarta from 1 June 2014. Following Jokowi's victory, he succeeded him as governor and was sworn into office on 18 November 2014.

Target of racism

A member of a minority ethnic group, Basuki has become the subject of occasional racist comments. During the 2012 gubernatorial campaign, he was targeted regularly by ultra-conservatives and supporters of rival candidates for being a non-Muslim. Furthermore, Basuki's "double minority" background makes 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.^[20]

Numerous hardliner groups staged several violent protests opposing him in the weeks leading to his inauguration, mentioning his background as a reason.^[21] In contrast, most mainstream Muslim organizations and communities throws support behind Basuki.^[22]

References