Chairman Of PAN Rejects Amien Rais' Proposal To Be Elected By The MPR: Reform Results Cannot Be Changed

PAN General Chair Zulkifli Hasan/PHOTO: Nailin In Saroh-VOI

JAKARTA - PAN Chairman Zulkifli Hasan did not agree with the proposal of former MPR chairman Amien Rais regarding the presidential election to be returned to the MPR. According to Zulhas, the rules for direct election are the result of reforms that cannot be changed.

"So if I elect the people directly, it should not be changed because that is the result of reform, not directly," said Zulkifli Hasan at the PAN DPP office, South Jakarta, Wednesday, July 3.

Even if there is a change in the election rules, said Zulhas, it must go through an in-depth study.

"At least if there is a change, it must be done carefully and we will study it gradually," said the Minister of Trade.

Previously, the Chairperson of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for the 1999 '2004 period, Amien Rais, suggested that the MPR be given the authority to elect a president and vice president again.

Because when he served as Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in the past, Amien had lost the authority of the MPR in choosing the president and vice president so that the current election was directly elected by the people.

The founder of the Ummat Party said that in the past he thought it was impossible for a presidential candidate to cheat by buying hundreds of millions of people's votes. However, seeing the fact of the alleged fraud in the 2024 General Election, he also regretted his decision while serving as Chairman of the MPR.

"In the past, we said that if we were directly elected or one person with one vote, where could someone want to bribe 127 million voters, which is possible, it takes hundreds of trillions. It turns out that maybe, that's amazing," said Amien Rais, Wednesday, June 5.

Therefore, Amien apologized for the rather naive calculation. So now it has stripped the MPR's power as the highest institution to elect the president and vice president.

"So, now if you want to return it, the MPR will choose it, why not? The MPR is the person who thinks, has considerations. Because if not, the MPR will be less weighted," said the first chairman of PAN.