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President Jokowi free to exercise political right: Airlangga
Airlangga said there should be no legal or ethical problem if a sitting president made his political preference known as long as he did not abuse government facilities to campaign for a political candidate.
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Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto reads out the party’s decision in Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2023, to nominate presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the upcoming elections (Antara/Fauzi Lamboka)
Chairman of the Golkar Party Airlangga Hartarto said that as a private citizen President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was free to back a presidential candidate in the Feb. 14 election as it was a manifestation of his political right.
Airlangga said there should be no legal or ethical problem if a sitting president made his political preference known as long as he did not abuse government facilities to campaign for a political candidate.
"First and foremost, that's the President's constitutional right and also his political right as a private citizen to be elected into office and also to elect someone into office," Airlangga said, as quoted by Antara.
Airlangga, who is also the coordinating economic minister, was responding to a statement made by President Jokowi on Wednesday saying that he was free to pick sides in the presidential election.
Jokowi insisted that a sitting president was free to back any presidential candidate and that he was entitled to campaign for the candidate of his choice in his free time, providing he made no use of government facilities while doing so.
President Jokowi has not officially announced his preference in the Feb. 14 presidential election, but has signaled his support for Prabowo.
In a press conference on Wednesday, President Jokowi also responded to a question from a gaggle of reporters who covered his trip to the Halim Perdanakusumah Air Base in East Jakarta about a viral video showing a figure flashing a victory sign, the gesture used by the Prabowo campaign team, from inside the presidential limousine.
