Projo: We Don't Support The Three-Term President's Idea

JAKARTA - Secretary General of the Central Executive Board (DPP) (Sekjen Projo), Handoko, emphasized that he did not support the discourse of extending the presidential term to 3 terms.

Projo's attitude is in line with the attitude of President Joko Widodo who refuses and does not want to run again in the next election.

"I've been talking about this since the end of 2019, and it hasn't changed, Projo doesn't support the idea," said Handoko when contacted by VOI, Monday, August 8.

"And Mr. Jokowi has also said that many times, has no intention of three terms or an extension of office. We haven't even talked about it many times that the idea is not good, in Projo's view it is not attractive, so we consistently do not support this idea," he continued.

Handoko was surprised that the discourse of 3 presidential terms kept being heralded over and over again. He also questioned the reasons for those who wanted Jokowi to run again as a presidential candidate for the third time.

"Ask what is meant by pushing and shoving. We don't want to, there is still a lot for this nation to think about, don't play around with strengthening democracy. Pak Jokowi has been talking back and forth, but he's surprised to be asked for 3 more terms," said Handoko. .

Handoko realized that amendments to the Constitution could be changed according to the times. However, regarding the presidential periodization, according to him, there is no urgency to change it.

"If you want an amendment, you want a change in term of office, you want a periodization, you want the election to be postponed or moved forward, that's actually possible because of the MPR. If the consensus agrees, go ahead. something specific was urgent, was it a crisis at that time. Or was there an election in 1955 and another election in 1971, for example, there was something that during the Bung Karno period took care of all kinds of rebellion, where is the critical point now? What are the critical points that make us want to 3 periods, the extension of the term of office, we did not find that reason," he explained.

"Please talk about various things, but Projo is not in the line to support the idea. Projo is in the same position as the President," he continued.

Handoko asserted, the idea is a setback for democracy. According to him, 2 periods are models that have been agreed upon in the reform era.

"This will set a bad precedent. Previously, we had experienced presidents who never changed. Then the elections began to get better, public participation was getting higher, right? It's a good point for strengthening democracy. Then later, we shouldn't do anything that doesn't strengthen it," said Handoko.

"Why does Pak Jokowi have to have 3 terms? Pak Jokowi has repeatedly said he doesn't want to," he continued.

Alluding to the question of the President of the 3rd period being prone to a coup like what happened in Guinea, Handoko agreed. Therefore, he invites all parties to no longer debate the term of office of the president for three terms.

"So let's all components of the nation, the politicians, together on that line to strengthen democracy," he suggested