Chairman Of Watimpres Reveal Reasons For Postponement Of Elections Or 3 Periods Will Run Aground: The Conditions Are Very Heavy!

Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) General TNI (Purn) Wiranto (Photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) General TNI (Purn) Wiranto explained four reasons why the discourse on extending the President's term of office, three periods and postponing the 2024 General Election, would not be possible.

"The answer is impossible. Why? First, because it concerns the 1945 Constitution, the amendments to the 1945 Constitution are very heavy. In terms of requirements, there is the will of the Indonesian people who are represented by the majority in the MPR," said Wiranto after a meeting with BEM Nusantara at the Wantimpres Office, Jakarta, Friday. April 8 quoted from Antara.

In the MPR membership, there are members of the DPR and DPD. In the DPR, of the nine political party factions, six of them have stated that they reject the extension of the president's term of office. With the remaining three parties, it is impossible to pass the 1945 Constitution Amendment discourse in the MPR.

Meanwhile, the DPD, he said, had expressed their rejection of the discourse on the amendment of the 1945 Constitution to extend the term of office of the President.

"So how can there be an amendment to the 1945 Constitution regarding the 3 term presidential office?" he said.

The second reason is that so far there has been no activity in the DPR, nor in government institutions, in the election management body which indicates that preparations are being made to postpone the 2024 General Election, in order to support the extension of the President's term of office.

Meanwhile, the third reason, said Wiranto, is that the government is currently busy recovering the national economy amidst global uncertainty. The government is also still working hard to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic so that it is completely completed.

"So there is absolutely no desire to discuss extending the term of office to three terms," he said.

Furthermore, the fourth reason is that the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has repeatedly emphasized that he adheres to the constitution of the 1945 Constitution.

"When there was talk of a three-term President, he (President Jokowi) already answered that it was the same as slapping me in the face, maybe looking for a face maybe, it destroyed me. That was the first time," he said.

President Jokowi has also stated that he is not interested in the discourse of extending the term of office of the President to three terms. Then, a few weeks ago, President Jokowi stated that he would obey the constitution of the 1945 Constitution.

“Even three days ago he last said to the ministers, it's enough not to talk about postponing the election, extending the term of office. That's enough," said Wiranto.

The discourse on extending the President's term of office has warmed up again after the General Chairperson of the All-Indonesian Village Government Association (Apdesi) Surta Wijaya expressed his support for the Apdesi National Gathering event on March 29, 2022.

In recent times, there has also been a discourse on the postponement of the 2024 Simultaneous General Elections (Pemilu) which was echoed by several general chairmen of political parties.