Ex-Jakarta governor Ahok says he is ‘damaged’ and his political career is over
- Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has received an award previously given to a former president and an activist, months after being released from prison
- After receiving it, he dispelled rumours he would be a minister in President Joko Widodo’s new government – citing his controversial past
Purnama, an ethnic Chinese and Christian, was sentenced to a prison term for blasphemy against Islam in 2017 after the circulation of a doctored video showed him telling supporters not to be fooled by a Koran verse that says Muslims should not vote for non-Muslims. He was then campaigning to be re-elected as governor.
It sparked a backlash from Muslim hardliners who rallied on Jakarta’s streets to demand he be punished, fuelling religious intolerance and encouraging its use as a political campaigning tool, according to analysts.
Purnama got divorced while in prison after a Jakarta court found there was adequate evidence of infidelity by his ex-wife. He was released from jail in January and reports say he has since married Puput Nastiti Devi, who is in her 20s and was formerly his ex-wife’s bodyguard. Puput accompanied Purnama to the awards ceremony on Monday.
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The 53-year-old is the ninth recipient of the award founded by the family of late engineer and former 1950s cabinet minister Roosseno Soerjohadikoesoemo, who is known in Indonesia as the father of reinforced concrete.
Previous recipients include former president B J Habibie for his achievements in science and technology and gender activist Saparinah Sadli, who was the first chair of the National Commission on Violence Against Women.
Writer and founder of the Indonesian news magazine Tempo, Goenawan Mohamad – who is part of the awards advisory committee – told This Week in Asia that Purnama was recognised for his “integrity, work ethic, innovation, and also his empathy for the disenfranchised,” echoing the speech given by Roosseno’s daughter, the poet Toeti Heraty.
“To me, what’s important about this award is that it was the first recognition for his work after he was sent away to prison,” said Goenawan.
Andreas Harsono, a researcher at Human Rights Watch Indonesia, said Purnama was known as a no-nonsense governor with a “clean track record, transparency and an ear for public interest”. But during his term, he bulldozed riverside slums in a bid to relocate poor residents to low-cost apartments, a policy that saw him criticised for dehumanising squatters and failing to understand he was removing them from a familiar setting.
Since leaving prison, Purnama has been working in a consultancy that helps local governments navigate bureaucracy and also appears in videos uploaded to YouTube.
In a video on Sunday, he said that he plans to “make an off-air show”, with profits from the ticket sales going to the foundation he founded in prison whose name is identical to his initials: BTP, Beri Tanpa Pamrih or Giving With No Strings Attached.
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Asked by reporters at the ceremony on Monday if he would get a ministerial post from his close associate, Widodo – who is currently in the process of forming a new cabinet after being re-elected as Indonesia’s president in April – Purnama said: “I will never become a minister. I am already damaged in this republic. I’m not being pessimistic, I’m just laying out the facts.”
In an Instagram post uploaded afterwards, he expressed his thanks and said receiving the award “was an honour”. “The lesson I learned from prison was to think of hard times as a blessing in disguise,” he said. “Even when I was vilified, slandered, humiliated and treated unjustly, if it’s in the national interest, I will stand tall through it all. Only after every citizen is willing to kill their egos and identity interests will Indonesia move forward into prosperity.”
