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Palace calls for TNI, Police neutrality after ministry's biased X post
Presidential expert staff coordinator Ari Dwipayana said an internal probe was underway within the Defense Ministry to look into an allegation of bias in the election.
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A screen grab of Defense Ministry's X handle from Jan. 21, 2024. (The Jakarta Post/X)
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senior aide to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo called on civil servants working at the Defense Ministry to maintain a neutral stance in the lead-up to the Feb. 14 presidential election following the use of a hashtag supporting the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka ticket on the official X account of the ministry.
Presidential expert staff coordinator Ari Dwipayana said an internal probe was underway within the Defense Ministry to look into the allegation of bias in the election.
"We must realize that today we are faced with an electoral competition. So everyone needs to maintain neutrality, especially in the ministries and including civil servants in the Indonesian Military [TNI] and the National Police," said Ari, as quoted by Antara.
The official X handle of the Defense Ministry @KemanhanRI posted on Sunday an update on the construction of lodgings for TNI soldiers with a number of hashtags including #PrabowoGibran2024.
The post has since been deleted following complaints from eagle-eyed users of X, formerly known as Twitter.
The lack of lodgings for TNI soldiers came up in the last presidential debate pitting Defense Minister Prabowo against opposition candidate Anies Baswedan and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member Ganjar Pranowo.
Anies in particular criticized Prabowo for controlling 500,000 hectares of land in many parts of the country while large numbers of TNI personnel lacked proper housing.
