Waketum PAN Denies That Amien Rais Was Expelled From The Party

JAKARTA - Amien Rais admitted that he had been expelled from the National Mandate Party (PAN), the party he founded. Amien said this was because he and the current PAN management had different principles.

Deputy Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Viva Yoga Mauladi denied reports that Amien was expelled from the party. According to him, the news was not true.

"How can Pak Amien Rais be expelled from PAN? Pak Amien is a reformist figure, one of the founders of PAN, was once the chairman of PAN, and has become the personification that PAN is Amien Rais, Amien Rais is PAN," said Viva, in a written statement, as quoted from Antara, Jakarta, Thursday, 23 July.

He emphasized that there was no attitude and thought by the Chairman of PAN, Zulkifli Hasan, to expel Amien Rais from PAN and of course there was also no policy of the PAN DPP management who wanted Amien Rais to leave PAN.

"If there is news stating that Pak Amien Rais has been expelled from PAN, that is false and misleading news," said the PAN spokesman.

Viva explained that to this day Amien Rais still belongs to PAN, and he doubts that Amien Rais will establish a new political party.

Since the post-reform government, he said, PAN has become the government party so that every period of the presidency there are PAN cadres entering the cabinet as ministers, including in the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla Working Cabinet, by placing Asman Abnur as Minister of PAN RB.

"In the 2019 Presidential Election, President Jokowi and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin were re-elected, forming a Working Cabinet II, PAN 'absent'," he said.

From the relationship between PAN and power like that, he said, the political position of PAN should have been clearly described.

"PAN to the Presidential Palace is not in the context of begging for power. PAN met the President at the Palace to maintain a sense of friendship because there is an inauguration ceremony for the PAN DPP management which the President plans to attend," he said.

However, he said, because of the pandemic, the inauguration ceremony was simplified with a COVID-19 prevention health protocol.

Viva explained that PAN to the Palace aims so that the power of political parties in Indonesia can work together to form a force to fight over the nation's problems, especially the threat of the economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"That's why PAN has a dialogue with the head of government, namely President Jokowi," he said.

As a party that was born from the womb of reform, he said, PAN remains consistent in fighting for democratic life in Indonesia, without being determined by political position, whether PAN is inside or outside the government.

"PAN will remain constructively critical of power through its supervisory function in the legislative body. The nature of PAN's supervision of power aims to ensure that the government runs well, is clean, strong, authoritative, and in accordance with the ideals of the national struggle," concluded Viva.