BEM UI Criticizes Jokowi Belonging To Political Parties Not The People, PDIP: Unseparable, One Unity

PDIP Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto/DOK PHOTO: Wardhany Tsa Tsia-VOI

JAKARTA - PDI-P Secretary General Hasto Kristiyanto responded to criticism from the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board which said President Joko Widodo belonged to a political party, not belonging to the Indonesian people.

"It cannot be separated between the party and the people. It is a unit," said Hasto as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, May 22.

Hasto emphasized that political parties and the people are a unit that cannot be separated.

He also explained that members of the legislature are representatives of political parties and political parties are representatives of the people.

According to Hasto, members of the legislature as representatives of the people do not only represent their electoral districts because this is only a way to determine the number of seats in the DPR.

"The name of the DPR RI, comes from political parties, be it the election mechanism, the implementation and cadre, but when elected, he becomes the people's representative throughout Indonesia who cannot be distinguished from the distribution of electoral districts," he said.

Hasto also emphasized that Jokowi is the head of state as well as the head of government. If he has become the head of state, Jokowi has become the property of all Indonesian people.

"He is the representative of all Indonesian people who cannot be distinguished by the division of electoral regions so that it is very clear that this is part of a very important political education for the people. So, we have never made matters easier," he added.

For government policies, he added, Jokowi must have listened to and run the platform of all supporting party political parties.

Hasto gave an example that if the president of the United States came from the Republican Party, it was impossible to run the program initiated by the Democratic Party.

"While the policy was driven by policies from political parties that carried it the same in the United States, the president of the Republican Party did not carry a platform from the Democratic Party. There must be differences in accordance with political lines based on existing ideological configurations. If in the west there is a center, adaleft, there is a right," said Hasto.

Previously, on Saturday (20/5), BEM UI criticized President Jokowi on social media to become a trending on Twitter.

"Jokowi belongs to a political party that is not owned by the people," wrote BEM UI via his Twitter account @BEMUI_Official.