Denying Ahok's Dismissal Letter Detained, Special Staff Erick: No Need To Make Complicated, Please Campaign

Special Staff III of the Minister of SOEs, Arya Sinulingga. (Between/HO-Ministry of SOEs/am)

JAKARTA - Special Staff to the Minister of SOEs Arya Sinulingga asked Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok not to be complicated about his dismissal letter. Arya said the Ministry of SOEs did not prohibit Ahok from campaigning.

This was conveyed by Arya in response to Ahok's statement claiming that he could not campaign to support the Ganjar-Mahfud MD pair. Ahok said SOE Minister Erick Thohir did not want to issue a letter of dismissal as President Commissioner of PT Pertamina (Persero).

Arya emphasized that when Ahok submitted his resignation, at that time Ahok no longer served as the main commissioner at Pertamina.

"There's no need to make it complicated, because actually when he (Ahok) resigned on that date, he immediately stopped as a commissioner," Arya said in his statement to the media, Thursday, February 8.

Arya also emphasized that Erick had no attempt to detain the issuance of Ahok's dismissal letter from the position of Komut Pertamina. According to Arya, the letter is currently in process.

"The process for the letter from Mr. Erick will be published later. So there is nothing special, that Mr. Ahok is not detained, there is nothing to do," he said.

Although the letter is still in process, Arya said Ahok was free from BUMN and allowed to campaign to support the presidential-vice presidential candidate pairs he chose.

Arya also said that there was no difference between Ahok and other SOE commissioners who had resigned because they wanted to campaign. He explained that after submitting the resignation, there was no prohibition against campaigning.

For example, said Arya, Muhammad Arief Rosyid Hasan, who resigned from the position of Independent Commissioner of PT Bank Syariah Indonesia Tbk (BSI). When he resigned on November 7, 2023, Arief was able to immediately join the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka National Campaign Team (TKN).

"So if Mr. Ahok wants a campaign, go ahead. There is no problem, don't make it complicated, and nothing special, for everything the composition is the same," he explained.

Previously reported, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok revealed that his letter of dismissal as President Commissioner of PT Pertamina (Persero) had not yet been officially issued by the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir.

Meanwhile, Ahok has resigned by signing his resignation letter since early February 2024. Ahok also uploaded his resignation letter on his Instagram social media @basukibtp on February 2.

Due to the administrative issue, Ahok admitted that he had not been able to campaign to win candidate pairs (paslon) number 03, Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD.

"Mr. Erick doesn't want to issue this letter to stop me. This (letter) hasn't come out yet. If he takes me out (published letter) automatically stops 30 days later. That's why I don't dare campaign," Ahok said in a discussion event entitled Ahok is Back, in Jakarta, Thursday, February 8.