Ethically, PKS Values Application For Jokowi Leave As President Is 'Not Right'

Chairman of the DPP Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Mardani Ali Sera gave a press statement while attending the Prophet's Birthday and Praying Together / DOC BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Chairman of the DPP Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Mardani Ali Sera stated that the election as a democratic party is not just a power battle, but also education about ethics and statesmanship. "The best thing about the president is being a teacher of the nation and neutral. If you apply for leave to yourself as president, ethically it is not a 'pas'," Mardani told the press in East Jakarta, Antara, Sunday, January 28. He responded to President Joko Widodo's statement that the president and minister could campaign in the 2024 election. "It is legally so, but the president's level is no longer legal but at the level of statesmen and ethics," he said. According to him, if the ethical principles of democracy are hit, it will reduce the quality of democracy itself. Mardani said that state officials, including the president, were allowed leave during the campaign, but it would be difficult to distinguish whether the official used state facilities or not. "For example, if the president is on leave, it is impossible if the president is not attached to the Paspampres, because it is mandatory," he said. He said that the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) were financed by the state. "The minister will also be like that later," said the candidate for the DPR RI for the Jakarta 1 electoral district (East Jakarta). Previously, President Jokowi stated that both the president and the minister had democratic and political rights that allowed them to participate in the election campaign as long as they did not use state facilities. Jokowi said this when responding to a number of ministers of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet who entered as a successful team to support the 2024 presidential election participants. "The rights of democracy, political rights, everyone. Every minister is the same, the most important thing is that the president can campaign, you can take sides. Yes," said Jokowi at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, Wednesday (24/1). However, Jokowi has not decided to take the opportunity to campaign to support one of the pairs of candidates in the 2024 presidential election. "Yes, we will see," said Jokowi. The Indonesian KPU has determined the participants of the 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections (Pilpres), namely the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar pair number 1, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka number 2 and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD number 3.

The KPU has also set a campaign period from November 28, 2023 to February 10, 2024. Then the vote will be on February 14, 2024.