Jokowi Is Considered Taking Sides In The 2024 Presidential Election, DPR Is Expected To Use Interpellation Rights

YOGYAKARTA - President of Indonesia's Young Advocates, Musthafa questioned Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s neutrality in his capacity as president. Jokowi's controversial statement regarding the president's authority to take sides has raised concerns among the public.

Although, said Musthafa previously, Jokowi emphasized the neutrality of state apparatus, his statement allowing the president to take sides raises serious questions.

In responding to this, he assessed that this irregularity was specifically regulated in Election Law number 7 of 2017 article 281, with certain conditions.

"In the Election Law, article 281 has been very clearly regulated that if you want a campaign, the requirements are mandatory leave. This means that when on leave, the president is not in his capacity as head of state, but as a Jokowi individual," said Musthafa, who is also part of the Legal Team and Advocacy LBH Arya Wiraraja, in an official statement to VOI, Tuesday, January 30.

Musthafa continued, "The basic question is how people can judge and distinguish Jokowi as president with Jokowi as an ordinary individual. The interpretation of this article is very difficult, especially in practice.

"Why? Because the president's position is attached to him 24 hours, automatically all the attributes used come from the state budget, which comes from the people."

According to Musthafa, Jokowi's attitude can be considered a violation of the TAP MPR No. VI/MPR/2001 concerning the Ethics of National and State Life.

"In this context, we know that one of the pairs of presidential candidates is his biological child. This raises indications of abuse of power and conflicts of interest that injure democratic values," he stressed.

"I urge the DPR, as a supervisory agency, to immediately use its authority to supervise through the right of inquiry, interpellation, or express opinions on Jokowi's actions," he concluded.