Anies-Muhaimin Team Hopes Minister Jokowi Wants To Be A Witness At The Constitutional Court Session

JAKARTA - Head of the National Legal Team (THN) Anies Muhaimin Ari Yusuf Amir admitted that his party as the applicant for the 2024 presidential election dispute lawsuit wanted to present the minister of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet to be a witness in the trial.

However, Ari realized that Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and his team did not have the power to ask President Joko Widodo's ministers to be witnesses in the election dispute trial.

Therefore, Anies-Muhaimin's team will ask the panel of judges to be able to present the officials submitted by the applicant as witnesses to provide information related to the subject matter of the case.

"In time we will submit to the constitutional assembly to present several officials that we ask for later. But that is the decision at the assembly to accept or not, because we do not have the ability to present these ministers," said Ari at the Constitutional Court building, Central Jakarta, Thursday, March 27.

According to Ari, the presence of ministers to testify is important to reveal facts about the alleged abuse of state institutions and their policies to the neutrality of the authorities to win candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

"For example (the information from the Minister of Finance regarding the use of our state budget. The Minister of Social Affairs, the distribution of our social assistance. That is really very important so that the public knows and we can really understand it in its entirety so that what we said earlier about the betrayal of the Constitutional Court as the guardian of the constitution can give the fairest decision," said Ari.

In the inaugural hearing on the dispute over the results of the general election (PHPU), Anies-Muhaimin's legal team said President Jokowi allowed or mobilized ministers to win Prabowo-Gibran in the 2024 presidential election.

Several ministers who were allegedly moved by Jokowi were Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan; Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir; and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto.

"Efforts to win the contest, President Jokowi has also mobilized or at least allowed several cabinet members to be involved in the candidate pair 02 campaign as well as other state officials," said AMIN legal team member Bambang Widjojanto in the trial.

According to him, Airlangga Hartarto's involvement as a minister in winning Prabowo-Gibran was allegedly by politicizing social assistance or social assistance to the people in Mandalika.

Then, Bahlil Lahadalia as minister accompanied Gibran Rakabuming Raka campaigning in Papua on Friday, January 26

"In addition, Bahlil also established a volunteer movement to support candidate pair 02," he said

Furthermore, there is the name Erick Thohir who is said to have never been on leave from his position as Minister of SOEs. In fact, actively campaigning for Prabowo-Gibran.

"Minister Erick Thohir has never taken leave or resigned from his position as minister even though he has been proven to have carried out a series of campaigns," he said.

"Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qomas stated that he is ready to provide an additional 4 percent of the votes for candidate pair number 02 Prabowo-Gibran, and provide direction towards religious instructors throughout Indonesia," he continued.

There is also the Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman. He is suspected of garnering support in several regions.

"He is suspected of mobilizing technical guidance to various regions to garner support. The Minister of Communication who is also the General Chair of Projo Budi Arie Setiadi garnered support for 02. The Minister of Industry also carried out raising," said Bambang.