Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – A number of gubernatorial candidates said on Friday they would go on with their struggle to realize their programs after their names were removed from the list of candidates for lack of support from the City Council's factions.
Rasdullah, a pedicab driver, said that he would establish a new party representing urban poor people. "I will set up a new party to be named Ampera, which stands for Amanat Penderitaan Rakyat [Message of the People's Suffering]," he told a discussion on the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
To be a governor, whose duty it is to govern the people, Rasdullah said, was everyone's right regardless of their status or walk of life. Rasdullah was nominated as a gubernatorial candidate by the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a non-governmental organization chaired by Wardah Hafidz.
The discussion, organized by the Indonesian Institute for Democracy Education (IDE), also featured a number of other candidates, including engineer Marco H. Kusumawijaya, women's activist Nursjahbani Katjasungkana and Ridwan Saidi, a Betawi (native Jakarta people) cultural expert.
Concurring with Rasdullah, Marco revealed that he planned to establish a center which would continue to campaign on the public issues affecting Jakarta residents through the publication of booklets, pamphlets and writings.
"The main goal is to stimulate public participation and the emergence of new thoughts from the public," said Marco, who is known as an expert on urban planning.
The center would take independent as well critical stances against the city administration, he said, "But, we will give recommendations needed for the improvement of the public well-being upon request." Another speaker, Nursjahbani, blasted the election system as it prevented those who had no support from the parties in the council from proceeding to the next stage.
"Everything's just as I predicted. The election will only benefit those who have affiliations with the councilors," complained Nursyahbani, who was nominated for governor by the Jakarta Residents' Forum (Fakta).
However, Nursjahbani remarked that she would continue her campaign for greater public involvement in the current election citing that her main agenda during the gubernatorial election process was to campaign for direct elections.
Nursjahbani asserted that direct elections were necessary to help increase public participation and involvement in local politics, which in turn would help to promote democracy.
Ridwan, who is popularly known as a representative of the Betawi community, said that he would continue to monitor the election closely. "I want to gather evidence that money politics has been involved in the election."