Andi Arief Berkicau Jokowi Sambangi Democrats' Envoy Regarding The Position Of Deputy Governor Of Papua, This Is An Explanation From The Ministry Of Home Affairs

Special Staff to the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) in the Field of Politics and Media Kastorius Sinaga. (Photo via ANTARA/Kemendagri)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Bappilu Democratic Party Andi Arief made a surprising statement on his Twitter social media account. He said that there was an envoy from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who had come to the Democratic Party to negotiate the position of deputy governor of Papua Province.

This statement was denied by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri).

"It is not true that there was an envoy from President Jokowi who had come to the Democratic Party to negotiate the position of deputy governor of Papua Province," said the Special Staff of the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) for Political and Media Affairs, Kastorius Sinaga in a statement received in Jakarta, as quoted from Antara, Saturday, September 24.

Kastorius views Andi Arief as stringing up his statement in an insinuative manner by saying there is a connection between the incident and the steps taken by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in naming Papua Governor Lukas Enembe as a suspect.

"This means that it is as if the determination of the suspect Lukas Enembe is a political engineering related to the issue of filling the position of deputy governor of Papua Province," he also said.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has communicated with Brother Andi Arief to clarify this, and clearly, Brother Andi Arief has corrected his statement by saying that those who come to the Democratic Party are certain parties, and not President Jokowi's official envoy," Kastorius continued.

The statement, which was written by Andi Arief through the @Andiarief account, now reads, "the request for the vacant Deputy Governor's position and accompanied by legal threats at that time was indeed on behalf of the President by certain parties".

Kastorius explained that the meeting with the Democrats to fill the Papuan deputy governor, as quoted by Andi Arief, occurred in 2021, after the death of Deputy Governor of Papua Klemen Tinal in May 2021.

Meanwhile, the date for determining Lukas Enembe as a suspect by the KPK occurred on September 5, 2022.

This means that the deadline for the incident between the two events is very long, almost one year. Therefore, it is illogical and tends to be insinuative when building a causal relationship between the determination of the suspect Mr. Lukas Enembe in his corruption case and the issue of vacancies in the position of deputy governor," said Kastorius.

The Special Staff of the Minister of Home Affairs also said that the determination of the status of the suspect against Governor Lukas Enembe was purely a legal step taken by the KPK independently based on the PPATK LHA (Report of Analysis) on account financial transactions in the name of Governor Lukas Enembe and his family.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs hopes that all parties will support and respect the legal process being carried out by the KPK," said Kastorius.