Unpredictable run-off for next governor

Incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (centre) gestures as he meets his supporters and the media after voting in local elections in Jakarta. - AFP

“BEFORE there was flooding here. After Ahok became Jakarta governor, there’s no flooding,” a 40-something Chinese woman said in Indonesian to a local journalist on Wednesday in north Jakarta.

She and her Chinese friends had just voted in Ja­karta’s gubernatorial election. They were waiting for the arrival of Ahok, the Hakka nickname of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Jakarta governor.