Rio Capella's Political Maneuvers And The NasDem Party

Patrice Rio Capella (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA- Patrice Rio Capella regretted the political maneuvers carried out by the NasDem Party. According to him, the move by the NasDem Party to meet PKS (having declared itself to be the opposition to the government of Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin) was a step that violated ethics. Moreover, the NasDem Party is part of a coalition of supporters of Jokowi-Ma'ruf and this maneuver occurred after the NasDem Party lost the seat of Attorney General in the Jokowi-Ma'ruf cabinet.

"The maneuver clearly violates political norms and ethics that do not reflect Eastern manners regarding courtesy. The maneuver is very embarrassing because the NasDem Party looks like a privately owned company that fosters political interests," Rio said in a statement received by VOI, Saturday, November 10.

Rio is the founder and first chairman of the party. He said the party's actions like this had deviated far from the original spirit of the party's establishment, on July 26, 2011.

The NasDem Party, which initially carried out Indonesia's reform-restoration greetings, he said, has turned into a political restaurant. The Nasdem Party is now a political restaurant in which to cook and fry political interests that are not for the interests of the people, not for the interests of the party, but only for the benefit of certain elites, certain groups within the NasDem Party.

In addition, Rio felt odd about President Jokowi's absence at the opening of the NasDem Party Congress on November 8. Instead, the NasDem Party invited DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and was given a place to speak in front of NasDem Party cadres. In fact, Anies was only involved in the establishment of the Nasdem Mass Organization, not the Nasdem Party.

He was also surprised when he heard the General Chairman of the NasDem Party Surya Paloh say there were parties who were not Pancasila because he considered his embrace with PKS President Sohibul Iman cynical. In fact, it was President Jokowi who commented on Bang Surya and Pak Sohibul's embrace.

"Did Bang Surya accuse President Jokowi of not being Pancasila?" he said.

Rio added that on the steps taken by the NasDem Party, don't blame the public who speculate that the NasDem's maneuvers are related to the President's policy of selecting the Attorney General to exercise his prerogative. And, if the NasDem Party's maneuvers were taken based on disappointment over the cabinet, it is only natural that President Joko Widodo was embarrassed by the NasDem Party's move.

Rio's statement was questioned by a number of NasDem Party cadres. This is because Rio was fired by the NasDem Party after becoming a suspect in a corruption case by the KPK.

"I just want to know, what does Rio mean? If he says Nasdem is no longer in line with Indonesian restoration, isn't he the one who is no longer in line with restoration because he was caught in a 250 million bribe case."

Chairman of the DPP NasDem Party Zulfan Lindan

Rio is suspected of receiving a sum of money related to case handling at the High Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General's Office. In addition, the KPK charged Patrice with a case of alleged gratification in the process of handling a regional aid case, arrears in revenue sharing funds, and capital participation of a number of regional-owned enterprises in North Sumatra Province. This case is an extension of the case that happened to the inactive North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho and his wife, Evy Susanti.

After being named a suspect, he stated that he would resign from the position of Secretary General of the NasDem Party as well as a member of the Indonesian Parliament.