The Effect of Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaya Purnama Leadership Style on Indonesia Democracy (2012-2016)

Abstract

The writer attempts to describe analytically the figure-based leadership effect on Jakarta sustainable democracy. On 28 November 2014, the inauguration of Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, as governor of Jakarta is a constitutional. All efforts to block his oath-taking ceremony, including claims that the governor must be elected by the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) are unconstitutional. In Indonesia legal system, the DPRD has no authority to block Ahok's inauguration. The presidential system shows that the president, governors, mayors, and regents must be elected directly by the people, not through parliament. The installation of Ahok as governor is a victory for pluralism. For the first time Jakarta is governed by an ethnic Chinese and Christian. This is reflection of equal political rights for all citizens being implemented. The Pancasila community was born on the basis of mutual respect of one's citizenship, from whatever ethnic group the person comes from or which religion he or she adheres to. The people opposing Ahok's rise to the governorship seem to have a mental block about Jakarta being governed by a non-Muslim. He happens to be a double minority, which he is a Christian and a Chinese. The appointment of Ahok effectively destroys all efforts towards ice-block of sectarianism. To conclude, in the future, state officials must be people who have the capacity and the integrity, without considering their minority position. Jakarta needs to return to order and stability, from cleaning up squatter settlements to getting rid of criminal elements like gangsters, bureaucracy inefficiency, and continue with the spirit begun by former Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin.