“Democracy can’t be allowed to go backwards boss,” Credit: Demokreatif

Desmond J. Mahesa, a member of the Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) Party’s executive board, reacted to Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama’s resignation yesterday with a mixture of indifference and disdain.

As quoted in Tempo, Desmond said,”Ahok can resign if he wants to, we’re not fussed about it.”

He added, “If the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) wants him, we’re not fussed. What did he contribute [to the party] during the legislative and presidential elections? Nothing.”

Gerindra is of course the party of Prabowo Subianto. who recently lost the presidential election to Ahok’s current boss, Indonesian President Elect Jokowi.

“What was he without Gerindra prior to becoming deputy governor?” continued Desmond.

As it turns out, Ahok had in fact already been a district head and a member of the House of Representatives representing the Bangka-Belitung Islands long before joining Gerindra in 2012.

Desmond’s rant to reporters finished with this beauty of an analogy: “Gerindra is like a mother, a good mother, forgotten and forsaken by her children. Let the public decide, it really is like Malin Kundang.”

For those of you who don’t know or need a refresher on the story of Malin Kundang, here’s the Wikipedia summary:

Malin Kundang is a Southeast Asian folktale about retribution on an ungrateful son. A sailor from a poor family, the protagonist sneaks onto a trading ship, eventually becoming rich, marrying a princess, and acquiring his own galleon. On his return to his home village, he is ashamed of his humble origins and refuses to recognise his elderly mother. She curses him, and when he sets sail, he and his ship are turned to stone.

So, just to recap, Desmond is saying that Ahok, who left his party in protest of Gerindra’s support of a bill that would take away people’s ability to directly vote for their own local representatives, is like a rich sailor ashamed of his poor old mom. And in this analogy, Gerindra is the poor old mom.

But it is theoretically possible that Ahok could turn into stone at some point in the near future, in which case we’ll agree that it was a good analogy.

If Desmond really wants to “let the public decide,” he probably won’t like the way many people are viewing Ahok’s righteous resignation, as seen in the picture at the top of this story that has already popped up several times on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

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