M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – The Presidential Staff Office Deputy V Jaleswari Pramodawardhani in a text message to Tempo on Tuesday said that the office reminds active State Ministers to set aside their personal agenda and focus on assisting President Joko Widodo instead.
His statement comes as a response to a number of State Ministers that have allegedly utilized state facilities to serve personal political interests, mainly, the 2024 presidential election.
Jaleswari insists that this is overseen under Law No. 39/2008 on State Ministries, which covers the fact that the President has the prerogative right to appoint and dismiss a Minister.
This, he believes, stamps the importance of a Minister to remain obedient to the President they serve and preserve discipline in performing the President's programs.
"So it is appropriate that the position of the Minister is used to the maximum extent possible to assist the presidential agenda for the progress of the country and the welfare of the people, not for pragmatic and personal interests, even leading to conflicts of interest," said Jaleswari in his text message on Tuesday, May 10.
Previously, PKB Party deputy chairperson Jazilul Fawaid claims there are a number of state ministers who abuse their position in the government towards the interest of running in the 2024 presidential election. However, he did not specifically mention the identities of the Ministers he refers to.
However, Al Azhar University political observer Ujang Komarudin suspects that there are four ministers referred to by Jazilul. He believes they comprise the Minister of SOEs, Erick Thohir, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, the Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, and the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto.
Ujang argues that there are no written rules covering this problem and he believes that President Jokowi himself has given the green light for his State Ministers to campaign for the upcoming election.