JK Mentions How To Criticize Jokowi Without Being Called By The Police, Mahfud MD Touched On The Kalla's Family Report

Mahfud MD (DOC. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD responded to Jusuf Kalla's (JK) statement regarding how to criticize the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government without being summoned by the police. Mahfud spoke of the government period when JK served as vice president.

"There was also a statement by Mr. Jusuf Kalla, a former vice president quoted by the mass media as asking how he could criticize so that he was not summoned by the police. Now in my opinion there has always been a dilemma on how to prevent those politicians from being summoned by the police because since the time Mr. JK was active in the vice president, criticism is also running around and the government is faced with a dilemma if it is considered discriminatory, if not acted upon it becomes wild," said Mahfud MD in a video of his statement, Sunday, February 14th.

Mahfud MD assessed that the context of JK's statement did not mean that the current condition was criticizing the fear of being called by the police.

"Well, in Mr. JK's era, we still remember there were, for example, Saracen, there was a Muslim Cyber Army, there was a Piyungan that attacked the government every day. In the era of Mr. JK, when people wanted to act against the government, they were noisy, when they were not taken action, they were also noisy. This is a democracy,” said Mahfud.

He emphasized that the government received criticism for consideration in policy making. As for reporting to the police, Mahfud emphasized that this could not be regulated.

"So we also can't prevent people from reporting, reporting is the right of the people. It is not the government that reports if a critical person is reported to the police then the police call. Those who report have the right, then the police have an obligation if there is a report to be investigated. That's all that's left to do,” said Mahfud.

“Even Mr. JK's family also reported to the police. Who is it? Ferdinand Hutahaean was reported to the police for mentioning what the caplin was… from a political phenomenon. The candidate for mayor of Makassar was also reported by Pak JK's family to the police. It's okay to report the police later and see if there is any element of crime or not," he explained.

Mahfud explained that President Jokowi's statement about the government being open to criticism was a serious attitude as the basis for government management.

"Please criticize it because it is a healthy government, a healthy democratic government that is open to criticism. Therefore the president said he was welcome to criticize if improvements were needed for the government," he said.

JK previously alluded to President Joko Widodo's statement asking the public to criticize the government. But they don't understand how to criticize without having to end up being criminalized.

"A few days ago, the President announced that he was welcome to criticize the government, but many wanted to see it. How do you criticize the government without being summoned by the police?" Jusuf Kalla said at the launching ceremony for the National Democracy Forum for the PKS DPR RI faction.

In fact, criticism is very important for the government so that democracy works well. This is because a democratic system must prioritize the interests of all parties.

"Our democratic system is indeed the right of the majority but protects the interests of minorities. There are balancing, checking and balance, there is criticism in implementation," said JK.