200 workers to hold two-day anti-Ahok rally

JAKARTA. Hundreds of workers are to hold a two-day rally in the capital on Monday and Tuesday in opposition to Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who has been accused of complicity in corruption.

“We will carry out a two-day long march to distribute a petition entitled #SelamatkanJakarta [SaveJakarta] to the people of Jakarta,” said Confederation of Indonesian Workers Unions (KSPI) chairman Said Iqbal.

Iqbal, who mounted a failed bid to join the House of Representatives in 2014 as a member of the Islamic Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said that the petition stated two demands: a wage increase and a demand for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to arrest the Jakarta governor and name him a suspect for corruption.

The union claims that Ahok is involved in corruption relating to reclamation projects off the coast of Jakarta and the purchase of land adjacent to Sumber Waras Hospital and in Cengkareng, both in West Jakarta.

The KPK, however, has previously declared that its investigators detected no corruption in the acquisition of land for the hospital in 2014.