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Golkar does 180, backs Jokowi on scheduled 2024 elections
The Golkar Party has put its weight behind the President's weekend statement that ended all speculation on the 2024 elections and the presidential term.
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Golkar Party deputy chair Nurul Arifin speaks to reporters on Sept. 12, 2017 in this file photo. (kompas.com/Ambaranie Nadia)
T
he Golkar Party leadership issued a statement on Monday supporting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s decision to go ahead with the 2024 general election as scheduled, in an about-face from the party’s earlier proposal to extend Jokowi’s term.
Golkar deputy chair Nurul Arifin said that the party fully endorsed the government's decision to hold the general election on Feb. 14, 2024.
Nurul also claimed that Golkar had been consistent in pushing for the President to step down when his second and final term ended in 2024, saying that party chairman Airlangga Hartarto’s call for Jokowi's term to be extended was a reflection of voters’ aspiration.
"Such a proposal was never the official position of the party. We never called for an extended term or postponing the elections," Nurul said.
Along with politicians from the National Awakening Party and the National Mandate Party, Airlangga called for delaying the 2024 elections to allow Jokowi to serve a beyond his final five-year term.
President Jokowi told a limited Cabinet meeting Sunday that the general election would be held as scheduled on Feb. 14, 2024, ending speculation that his government was trying to delay the polls and extend his term beyond the constitutional limit.
“Let the people know that the stages and schedules for the simultaneous general and regional elections have been set,” the President said at Bogor Palace.
“This needs to be made clear to avoid speculation [...] that the government is trying to delay the elections or extend the presidential term and [add] a third term,” he said.
