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President Jokowi denies politicizing social assistance
President Jokowi denies using social assistance for political purposes that could favor presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka in the upcoming presidential election.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (second left) throws T-shirts to local residents of Telukan village in Sukoharjo, Central Java, during a work visit in the region on Feb. 1, 2024. During the visit, Jokowi disburses 10 kilograms of rice to 22 million low-income people until June. (Antara/Mohammad Ayudha)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo denied allegations he has politicized social assistance (bansos) in a bid to support his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is the running mate for presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in the upcoming presidential election.
Speaking after an event in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Friday, Jokowi asserted that the social assistance program and the necessary budget needed to be approved by the House of Representatives and that the process has been ongoing since September of last year.
"Don't think our decisions are made independently, that’s not how the state mechanism works," Jokowi said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Over the last few weeks, Jokowi has been actively participating in the distribution of social assistance during his work visits to various regions.
Two ongoing social assistance programs are being implemented by Jokowi, the government rice reserves (CBP) and direct cash assistance (BLT) for food risk mitigation.
Jokowi said that there were two considerations for providing social assistance: the global rise in rice prices and enhancing the purchasing power of the low-income population.
"The rice aid has been in place since September. The BLT [was distributed] due to the prolonged dry season caused by El Niño, so this is also to strengthen the purchasing power of the community," said Jokowi, as quoted by tempo.co.
