Jokowi About Meeting SYL Later Tonight: Don't Understand, We Have Not Met Aja

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) during the Grand Panen in Subang, West Java (Presidential Secretariat YouTube)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo confirmed that he would meet former Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo (SYL) tonight at the Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta.

However, Jokowi admitted that he did not know what discussion SYL would discuss with him.

"Yo, I don't understand (what was discussed). I just haven't found it yet, how come (I already know) what to discuss," said Jokowi after doing a big harvest in Subang, broadcast on YouTube by the Presidential Secretariat, Sunday, October 8.

Jokowi previously stated that he had received and signed SYL's resignation letter as minister of agriculture, following the alleged corruption case being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Jokowi has also appointed the Head of the Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi as the Acting Minister of Agriculture. Arief also directly accompanied Jokowi during a working visit to Subang today.

"This Mr. Arief has (worked as Acting Minister of Agriculture)," said Jokowi.

When asked about the certainty of a cabinet reshuffle that would determine the Minister of Agriculture to replace SYL, Jokowi asked all parties to be patient and wait. "Yes, later, it will be there, it has been handled by Pak Arief," he added.

KPK investigators on September 29, 2023 announced that they had raised the status of the alleged corruption case at the Ministry of Agriculture to the investigation stage.

Although it stated that it had named a number of parties as suspects in the case, the KPK has not announced who the parties have been named as suspects because the investigation and collection of evidence is still ongoing.

The day before, on September 28, 2023, the KPK searched the official residence of the Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo at the Widya Chandra Complex, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta and found evidence in the form of cash in rupiah denominations and foreign currencies.

In its development, this alleged corruption case was also marked by extortion by the KPK leadership against SYL.

The alleged extortion case is currently being investigated by the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimsus) of the Metro Jaya Police, who examined six people related to the case.

The six people who have been questioned by the police include SYL, the driver, and SYL's aide.