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Jokowi hits back at Anies' criticism on national strategic projects
The President, as well as presumptive PDI-P nominee Ganjar, has hit back at opposition figurehead Anies' statement that the national strategic projects were prone to corruption by calling on him to provide evidence to back his allegation.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, surrounded by event participants and dignitaries in traditional dress, speaks to the media on July 7 after opening the Papua Street Carnival 2023 in Jayapura, Papua. (Antara/Evarukdijati)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has responded to former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan, who alleged that the national strategic project (PSN) program was laden with vested interests, by calling on its critics to provide evidence to back their accusation.
"Just let me know which projects [are questionable] and who is responsible for proposing them," President Jokowi told reporters on Sunday, as quoted by Antara.
Anies, who is running for president on an opposition platform led by the NasDem Party, stated in his speech at a party event on Saturday that PSNs could become a hotbed for corruption if they were not vetted and monitored properly.
He added that all national strategic projects should be based on the medium- and long-term development plans and not only on requests from "certain parties".
"In principle, PSNs are good, but if not properly controlled, these projects will be based on requests left and right and we won’t know how they were designed," Anies said.
Separately, presumptive nominee Ganjar Pranowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also called on Anies to give evidence to back his allegation.
"Who is left and right? He needs to provide data for his accusation. If he has the data, just show it to the public," Ganjar told reporters in Surabaya over the weekend.
