Jakarta – A senior aide to the State Palace defended on Thursday a statement from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo that a sitting president could "pick a side" in elections, as it had been a common practice among his predecessors in the Reform Era.
Coordinator of President Jokowi's special aides Ari Dwipayana, a political science professor from Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, also said the President's statement on Wednesday had been widely misinterpreted.
"There's nothing new in that statement [...] past presidents, the fifth and sixth president, also had their political preferences and had gone on the campaign trail to win for the party that they supported," Ari was quoted by Antara as saying on Thursday, referring to Jokowi's predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The senior aide said Jokowi's statement was also taken out of context by journalists.
"The context for the statement was that the President was responding to questions regarding cabinet ministers who join a presidential candidate's campaign team," Ari said.
On Wednesday, President Jokowi made a statement saying that a sitting president was free to back any presidential candidate and that he was entitled to campaign for the candidate of his choice in his free time, providing he made no use of government facilities while doing so.
The President issued the statement during a handover ceremony at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Base in East Jakarta for new Hercules C-130J A-1344 military transport aircraft to the Air Force. Gerindra Party presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto took part in the ceremony in his capacity as defense minister.