Palace Denies Jokowi's "Meddling" in PDIP Administration Extension

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) (Doc: State Secretariat)

JAKARTA - Coordinator of the President's Special Staff, Ari Dwipayana, denied that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had "interfered" with the extension of the term of office of a number of PDIP administrators.

"Regarding the narrative raised and developed by a media outlet that mentioned the President interfering with the extension of the term of office of PDIP administrators, the story raised by the media is completely untrue," said Ari Dwipayana in his statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, August 7.

Ari said that the President had never formed a Special Team (Timsus) to study the legal aspects of the extension of the term of office of PDIP administrators.

In addition, said Ari, the extension and replacement of the composition of the management of a political party is an internal matter in accordance with the articles of association and bylaws (AD/ART) of the political party.

Based on Article 23 paragraph (2) of the Political Party Law, the composition of the management resulting from the replacement of the management of a political party is registered with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham), and will then be determined by a decision of the Minister of Law and Human Rights, Ari added.

"Regarding the follow-up process of extending the term of office of PDIP administrators, you can ask the Minister of Law and Human Rights directly, who has the authority to determine this based on the Political Party Law," he said.

Previously reported, PDIP DPP General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri led the swearing-in ceremony for the PDIP DPP management for the 2019-2024 term of office which was extended to 2025 at the PDIP Party School, Lenteng Agung, Jakarta, last Friday.

Those whose terms of office were extended were the old management, including Megawati's son Prananda Prabowo and Puan Maharani. There were also Hasto Kristiyanto, Olly Dondokambey, Bambang Wuryanto, and Said Abdullah.