Becoming A Candidate For Mayor, Gibran Prohibits Jokowi From Returning To Solo

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) admits that his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is prohibited from returning to Solo, Central Java during the election for mayor candidates.

Jokowi said Gibran did not want his arrival to Solo to be used by other parties to narrate a hidden campaign.

"He (Gibran, red) said that, 'you don't have to go to Solo first'. But I want to visit (visit the graves of parents)," said Jokowi in an exclusive interview with Rosiana Silalahi which was broadcast on Kompas TV, Monday night, 16 November.

Hearing this request, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta then tried to comply. In fact, during the election for mayor of Solo, he returned to his hometown only once.

"I came home only once and it was night. I just went to (grave, red) my parents. Then that night I immediately returned and stayed overnight in Yogyakarta," he said.

"That's to maintain it, to guard the voices (oblique, red)," he added.

Furthermore, Jokowi also spoke up about the assumption that the 2020 Pilkada would continue in trade because his son, Gibran and son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, participated in the contest. Jokowi said that the pilkada should be held because it had previously been postponed in September.

In addition, reflecting from other countries, said Jokowi, there are 30 countries that have held general elections amid the pandemic, such as South Korea and America. So, it was decided that the Pilkada should be held.

"So don't take it anywhere," he said.

Moreover, he considered everyone without exception Gibran and Bobby Nasution to have political rights. Not only that, Jokowi also said that he had never directed both of them in the world of politics.

"They (Gibran and Bobby, ed) answered that it was my political right and this was not appointed or elected either. But those who chose the community, have already worked," he said.

It is known that Jokowi's eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, ran in the Solo Mayor Election with his partner, Teguh Prakosa. This pair will fight against independent candidate Bagyo Wahyono-FX Supardjo (Bajo).

Meanwhile Jokowi's son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, will run as a candidate for mayor in Medan with his partner Aulia Rachman. In the Medan Pilwalkot contest, Bobby and Aulia will fight Akhyar Nasution and Salman Alfarisi.