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Muhammadiyah rank and file support Jokowi, says Din Syamsuddin
Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo,the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) presidential candidate, visitedthe central board of Muhammadiyah on Thursday, the countryâs second largestMuslim organization, and met with its chairman Din Syamsuddin
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J
akarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo,the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) presidential candidate, visitedthe central board of Muhammadiyah on Thursday, the country's second largestMuslim organization, and met with its chairman Din Syamsuddin.
This was Jokowi's second visit to theMuhammadiyah central board office in Jakarta during his governorship.
Upon arrival, Jokowi, Din and the rest of theentourage performed a mass Duhur prayer in the Muhammadiyah mosque with Jokowias the imam (leader of the mass prayer).
Both leaders later had lunch together and aclosed-door meeting.
'We are happy to have Pak Jokowi as our imam during the
Duhur mass prayer. We have always given the honor of being an imam during a
mass prayer to our honorable guests,' Din told reporters after the meeting.
When asked about whether such a gesture was a
sign of support for Jokowi's candidacy, Din was quick to quell speculation.
'We are an independent organization and it is
our basic principle to not be affiliated with a political power,' he said.
Nevertheless, Din acknowledged that most members
of the organization supported Jokowi.
'I asked members of Muhammadiyah at the lower
level and most of them said they liked Pak Jokowi and expressed their support for
him,' he said.
Din also pointed out that he and Jokowi had
often met when Jokowi was still the mayor of Surakarta (Solo) in Central Java.
'I received a report that Ibu Ana [Jokowi's
wife] had built a Joglo house [traditional Javanese house] in one of our
schools of nature in Solo. That means a lot to us,' Din said.
Jokowi emphasized that the meeting had nothing
to do with his nomination.
'We talked about education and health as those
are Muhammadiyah's core programs,' the governor said, pointing out that
Muhammadiyah schools and hospitals were among the beneficiaries of the city
administration's Jakarta Smart Card (KJP) and Jakarta Health Card (KJS)
programs.
'We also talked about broader issues,' he added,
declining to elaborate on the details.
During the meeting, Din said he delivered his plan to expand the Muhammadiyah office building to the governor.
'I hope the building permit can be issued while Pak Jokowi is still the governor,' he said.
