Palace: Maruarar Sirait's Political Attitude Don't Connect With The President

Maruarar Sirait met Jokowi on the same day when he handed over the PDIP KTA after deciding to leave the party made by Megawati Soekarnoputri/PHOTO via Instagram @ maruarsirarait

JAKARTA - The Presidential Special Staff Coordinator, Ari Dwipayana, said that Maruarar Sirait's political stance to withdraw from the PDI-P (PDIP) should not be linked to President Joko Widodo.

"Whatever political attitude Bang Ara takes is the person concerned. So don't connect with the President," said Ari at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, January 16.

Asked about Ara's statement, Maruarar's nickname, who followed Jokowi's steps, Ari did not want to comment.

"That's Bang Ara's political attitude, right, so just ask Bang Ara," he said.

Ari said President Jokowi also considers Ara's political stance to be a personal decision in question.

"Regarding the President's attitude, yes, he said it was the personal political attitude concerned," he said.

Ari then emphasized that Jokowi's membership status at PDIP was 'good'. According to him, until now there has been no official statement from President Jokowi regarding membership in PDIP.

"Yes, until now there has been nothing, nothing, a statement from the President or from the PDIP about it. So it's fine," he said.

Maruarar Sirait on Monday (15/1) decided to leave PDIP after decades of being a party cadre bearing the white-nosed bull.

Ara juga telah berterima kasih kepada Ketua Umum PDI Perjuangan Megawati Soekarnoputri, Sekretaris Jenderal Hasto Kristiyanto dan elite partai lainnya.

"I pray that the PDI-P will remain a big party, fight for Pancasila, fight for truth and fight for justice," he said.

The man from Medan, North Sumatra, reasoned that he left the PDI-P, one of which was following in the political steps of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

However, he did not specify whether the reason was to support the presidential and vice presidential candidate pair number 2 Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, unlike the PDI-P who brought the candidate pair number 3 Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md.

"I chose to follow Pak Jokowi's steps because I believe Pak Jokowi is a leader who is strongly supported by the Indonesian people," said Maruarar.