controversial remark made by opposition figure and presidential contender Anies Baswedan suggesting that a senior Cabinet member has been pushing to amend the Constitution to delay the 2024 election has drawn backlash from members of the majority coalition.
The former Jakarta governor said on Friday that an unnamed member of the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration publicly toyed with the idea of altering the Constitution to extend the President’s tenure and accused that person of a lack of commitment to the country’s decades-old reform movement.
“How come there are people in key positions, such as a coordinating minister, saying a number of people support amending the Constitution? The quality of our democracy was not deteriorating, but [now] people who are not committed to [democratic ideals] have become more courageous in expressing their thoughts openly,” Anies said.
He called on people who remained committed to democracy to voice their opposition forcefully, saying, “We will be much better in the future if we respect the rules of the game […] What we need is a fair play, equal opportunity and neutrality from those holding power,” he said.
While Anies stopped short of naming names, speculation was rife that he was referring to Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, an influential power broker within the State Palace.
Luhut was one of several government officials who floated the idea of extending Jokowi’s presidential term beyond his constitutionally mandated two-term limit last year. He then claimed he had “big data” analysis from 110 million Indonesian social media users that suggested the majority of the public was in favor of delaying the election.
When asked about Anies’ comments, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said on Friday that members of the Cabinet had been ordered to refrain from talking about such a Constitutional amendment. Meanwhile, the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Jakarta Post.
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