Jakarta – Former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok, on Thursday clarified his recent remarks insinuating that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, cannot fulfill their duties.

Ahok's remarks had circulated widely and garnered criticism from supporters of the president.

Gibran is currently running for the February 14 presidential election as a vice-presidential candidate alongside Prabowo Subianto, the frontrunner in the three-person race to succeed Jokowi.

During an event in South Jakarta, Ahok said his comments had been taken out of context.

"Gibran cannot carry out tasks if elected. Mr. Jokowi won't be able to work either later. What do I mean by that?" Ahok was quoted by Kompas news website as saying. "Gibran is contesting as a running mate. In our governance system, the vice president's duties are mainly ceremonial, period."

Regarding Jokowi, he will retire in October after completing his second term and cannot seek reelection due to constitutional term limits.

"If Mr. Jokowi is no longer our president, do you expect that Prabowo will allow Mr. Jokowi to work for him? How can the president's job be handled by his predecessor? Anyway, my previous statement has been misinterpreted," Ahok clarified, presuming that Prabowo will win the election.

Ahok recently resigned as the chief commissioner of the state-run oil company Pertamina to join the presidential campaign of Ganjar Pranowo, a fellow member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

This move surprised many, as Ahok is widely known as a staunch supporter of Jokowi. He served as Jokowi's deputy when the latter was elected governor of Jakarta in 2012 and was later promoted to the governor position when Jokowi won his first presidential term in 2014.

The third presidential candidate is Anies Baswedan, who defeated Ahok in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/ahok-clarifies-jokowi-cant-work-remark