"Why (the words of Ahok) are always put in negative sentiment," Megawati, who is general chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), said in a news conference in Blitar, East Java on Monday.
Megawati, was in Blitar together with Ahok and a number of other PDIP leaders making a devotional visit to the grave of her father, the countrys first President Soekarno in the East Java city.
She said not few people were offended with the impolite words used by Ahok.
"Many people get emotional saying Ahok talks too much. An then I said even to the president Mr Jokowi, that Ahok does have big mouth otherwise he is not from Bangka," she said.
She said people of different ethnic groups have typical characteristics. Javanese are known to be soft spoken.
"But people from that side ((Bangka Belitung) are like that. Batak people look like shouting when they are singging. Then why should we be offended," she said.
Ahok, who belongs to no political party, is the candidate nominated by PDIP and a number of other political parties to contest the next gubernatorial election in February, 2017.
Ahok is now in the center of controversy for saying words allegedly insulting to Islam when he was on a visit to the Thousand Island in the Jakarta Bay recently. He had to publicly apologize after he was reported to police.
Megawati said she has asked Ahok to stop having doorstop interviews with the mass media as his words had often been given negative interpretation that would hurt his reputation.
She said his interviewers could have been sent by his political foes.
From Blitar, Megawati and a number of other PDIP leaders flew to Bali later that day.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
