Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo claims he is within his legal rights in taking sides and taking part in campaigns in the coming general election, literally thumbing his nose at a petition calling for his impeachment because of his constant interventions in the race.
He has openly endorsed the nomination of his defense minister Prabowo Subianto with running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, his 36-year-old son. He has also joined in the on-going campaign for the Feb. 14 presidential race. "It's the democratic and political right of every citizen [...] A president can campaign and take sides, as long as he does not use state facilities in the campaign," Jokowi said on Wednesday amid growing complaints that his interventions are giving an unfair advantage to the Prabowo-Gibran ticket over the other two pairs of candidates.
Critics said as the President, who oversees and is responsible for the electoral process, Jokowi should stay above the fray. One staunch criticism comes from Jusuf Kalla, his vice president in his first term in 2014-2019, who said Jokowi was in violation of his oath of office. This prompted a group of citizens, calling themselves Petition 100, to demand the legislature to begin the process of impeachment, although no political party in the House of Representatives has picked up the proposal.
Legal and constitutional experts agree that nothing in the current election law prevents the President from taking sides, but some say he could be in violation of other laws, including those pertaining to conflicts of interest and abuse of state facilities. He could also be in violation of his own instructions made in November to all state officials, including heads of regional administrations, to remain neutral in the elections. Others say the president's behavior amounts to a breach of ethics. Jokowi said a president, like members of his cabinet, was not only a state officer, but also a politician with political rights.
None of the cabinet members running for office have resigned. Coordinating Political, Lega and Legal Affairs Minister Mahfud MD is contesting the presidential race as running mate to former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, and scores of other ministers are running for seats in the House of Representatives, all actively campaigning without relinquishing their jobs.
Last week rumors flew that some ministers planned to resign because they had grown uncomfortable serving the President in this political environment. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, whom Prabowo has picked as the main culprit for blocking his plan to procure weapons by cutting back the defense budget, is one minister rumored to be unhappy.
The rumors were quickly quashed by the ministers and the President, but the public discourse was sustained when Mahfud this week said he would step down "when the time is right." Mahfud said he had not used a single cent of government money on his campaign trail and that he always traveled alone, not accompanied by any ministry staff, noting that other ministers combined their official trips with campaigning in the regions.
What's more
Jokowi has been accused of campaigning unfairly on behalf of the Prabowo-Gibran ticket when he distributes social assistance packages, either in cash or in kind, to the poor, something he has been doing actively in recent weeks. Many said people could not distinguish when he was acting in his capacity as President or as a citizen with political rights, especially when he openly endorsed the Prabowo-Gibran nomination, for example by raising a two-finger symbol to denote the number designated to the pair by the electoral commission.
His biggest intervention came in October when he maneuvered to get the Constitutional Court, then chaired by the husband of his younger sister, to carve out an exception to the 40-year minimum age rule to run for president or vice president stipulated in the electoral law. The court chair, Anwar Usman, was later removed from the job for violating ethics but the controversial decision stays and Gibran is allowed to run.
He also maneuvered to get his youngest son 29-year-old Kaesang Pangarep to be appointed as chair of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) only two days after joining.
The impeachment call by Petition 100 was never expected to gain traction in the absence of any big names among the signatories. The biggest name is Amin Rais, former chair of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) who has since lost power and influence. Others include some retired military generals with low public standing, and academics.
The petition is a dead letter as long as no political party takes it up. None are forthcoming since seven of the nine parties in the House are part of the coalition government and are showing no signs of leaving it. All have dismissed the idea of impeaching the President.
Despite the lack of traction in the government, the petition for President Jokowi's impeachment has become part of the public discourse and has put the spotlight on his behavior ahead of the coming elections.
What we've heard
Several ministers in President Joko Widodo's cabinet are said to be considering resigning, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD.
According to sources close to Sri Mulyani, the dynamics within the Cabinet have triggered the aspirations of several ministers to step down. The discourse on Sri Mulyani's resignation, according to this source, has also been circulated by people around the finance minister, including Faisal Basri, who first raised this issue. "Including through Faisal Basri, who first floated this issue," the source said.
The momentum strengthened after the Constitutional Court's decision that allowed President Jokowi's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to run for vice presidential despite the minimum age requirement that he could not meet. "The event is considered to have exceeded the values and principles embraced by Sri Mulyani," the source said.
According to this source, the dynamics regarding budgeting also triggered Sri Mulyani's plan to resign. The situation involves the budget for the purchase of defense equipment proposed by Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto. Various spending plans had to be postponed due to a lack of funds, including the purchase of used Mirage fighter jets from Qatar.
Mahfud, who is the running mate to Ganjar Pranowo, also plans to resign. Some former colleagues of the Constitutional Court justices said the scenario to step down from the Cabinet had been conceived since the PDI-P declared him the vice-presidential candidate. This source said the resignation idea had been proposed by Ganjar to Mahfud since mid-December 2023.
The plan is aimed at allowing Mahfud more freedom to campaign. "It is also pressure on Prabowo to also resign as a minister," the source added.
[This content is provided by Tenggara Strategics in collaboration with The Jakarta Post to serve the latest comprehensive and reliable analysis on Indonesia's political and business landscape.]