In a closed-door meeting with media leaders and content creators, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appeared to confirm that he has involved himself in the search for his successor, but maintained that he was doing it for the best of the country rather than for selfish reasons.

The meeting, held at the State Palace on Monday afternoon, saw Jokowi gather with around two dozen media figures and social media personalities.

Having hosted private meetings with political party leaders and having appeared on public outings with several presumptive presidential nominees, Jokowi has faced a flurry of accusations that he was “meddling” in the 2024 elections, referred to in the Javanese language as “cawe-cawe”.

Despite mounting criticism, Jokowi insisted that he has been doing so to ensure a smooth transition for when he steps down from office in under a year’s time and that his development programs would continue beyond 2024, according to some of the media leaders who attended Monday's meeting.

“[The President] said that being cawe-cawe does not contravene any prevailing law, [he is actively intervening] for the country’s, not for his own personal gain,” Karni Ilyas, chief editor of national news company TV One said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

Kompas TV general manager Yogi Nugraha, said that the President had mentioned the term cawe-cawe multiple times throughout the two-hour meeting.

“[The President said] that he has to [intervene], he has to participate at the national level. But the President stressed that this was not an abuse of his power as president," Yogi said.

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