Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo made it clear on Friday that he had no part in a legal initiative aimed at reducing the minimum age requirement for a presidential candidate and running mate to 35 years and asserted that he would not interfere in any way with the proceedings at the Constitutional Court.
Critics have raised concerns that this motion might be orchestrated to facilitate the inclusion of Jokowi's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as a running mate for Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential election.
The 1945 Constitution mandates that a candidate for the presidency and vice presidency must be at least 35 [sic 40] years old.
Jokowi emphasized his role in leading the executive branch, underlining that he lacks the authority to intervene in legal matters, and he firmly expressed his complete lack of intention to do so.
"I am not intervening in the work of the judicial branch," the president responded when questioned by reporters during his visit to Sukabumi, West Java.
When asked about any potential connection between the legal motion and his son's political aspirations, he replied: "Let us not jump to conclusions."
Gibran, aged 35, currently serves as the mayor of Solo, Jokowi's hometown in Central Java.
The legal motion was instigated by Dedek Prayudi, a politician affiliated with the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI). A separate motion proposed by politicians from the Garuda Party and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) seeks to uphold the minimum age of 40 years, with the addition of the phrase "or a proven track record as an elected leader."