Ahok intends to meet Prabowo

JAKARTA, Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said he plans to meet with Gerindra Party patron and losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.

“I have asked for some time to meet with him [Prabowo],” he said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

Previously, Prabowo said that Ahok had yet to meet with him and inform him about his resignation from Gerindra, the party that paired Ahok with Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2012.

“If he [Ahok] understood ethics, he should have come to me and informed me about his resignation. That is ethics among human beings. We live with norms [in this country],” Prabowo said.

Prabowo acknowledged that he had never met with Ahok for almost a year. He said, however, that his brother Hashim Djoyohadikusumo, who is Gerindra’s deputy chairman, and Ahok always maintained communications.

Ahok previously said that he had met with Hashim to explain his decision to resign from the party. During the meeting, Hashim reportedly asked him to stay and offered further discussions with party officials, but Ahok declined. (alz/dic)