JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Political parties that had previously supported delaying the 2024 elections have made a complete U-turn to support President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo’s decision to go ahead with the elections as scheduled.
Several prominent coalition members had proposed the election postponement and the extension of Jokowi’s term beyond 2024 – changes that would require a constitutional amendment.
The parties in support of the postponement included the Golkar Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).
However, the Golkar leadership issued a statement on Monday (April 11) supporting Jokowi’s decision. Golkar deputy chair Nurul Arifin said the party fully endorsed the government's decision to hold the general election on Feb 14, 2024.
Nurul also claimed that Golkar had been consistent in pushing for the President to step down when his second and final term ended in 2024, saying that party chairman Airlangga Hartarto’s call for Jokowi's term to be extended was a reflection of voters’ aspirations.
"Such a proposal was never the official position of the party. We never called for an extended term or to postpone the elections," Nurul said.
Back in February, along with politicians from PAN and the PKB, Airlangga called for delaying the 2024 elections to allow Jokowi to serve beyond his final five-year term.
Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga was in a limited Cabinet meeting on Sunday where President Jokowi told his aides that the general election would be held as scheduled, ending speculation that his government was trying to delay the polls and extend his term.
Also at Sunday’s meeting were Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan and Home Minister Tito Karnavian.
PAN deputy chairman Yandri Susanto also said on Monday that the option of extending Jokowi’s term was no longer available.
“Jokowi’s statement closes the chance of extending or increasing the president’s term,” Yandri told reporters at the House of Representatives complex.
“We of course very much agree that there shouldn’t be any more discourse on election delays or term extensions. [PAN] is going to focus on 2024.”
PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan was the second political leader to float the idea for the delay in February.
Zulkifli even outlined five reasons why the elections should be postponed; one of them being the global uncertainty caused by the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which he said would disrupt the global economy, including that of Indonesia.
PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar was the first political bigwig to make the election-postponement call, saying that the elections should be delayed by one or two years so that they would not “disrupt economic recovery” following the pandemic.
In March, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party with the most seats in the House, and of which President Jokowi is a member, strongly rejected these proposals.
Jokowi’s statement came a day before planned student rallies on Monday in Jakarta and in several other cities protesting against proposals to extend his final term in office beyond its constitutionally mandated limit.
The rally in Jakarta was called by the National Association of University Student Executive Bodies (BEM SI). It was initially staged in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta before moving to the House complex on Jl. Gatot Subroto.
BEM SI spokesperson Luthfi Yufrizal said on Monday that the group wanted to focus its efforts on demanding that lawmakers refrain from amending the Constitution – which would be necessary if Jokowi’s term was to be extended – and to firmly reject any proposal to extend the President’s term.
Students started gathering in front of the House complex at around 2pm. A few hours into the demonstration, House Deputy Speaker and Gerindra Party politician Sufmi Dasco Ahmad answered the students’ call for an audience with lawmakers.
He was accompanied by fellow deputy speakers Lodewijk Paulus of Golkar and Rachmat Gobel of the NasDems, as well as National Police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo.
Speaking in front of hundreds of protesters, Sufmi said the House agreed with the student's demands and would continue preparations to hold the presidential election as scheduled.
A majority of students then disbanded following Sufmi’s comments, but some groups started to hurl stones into the complex. This prompted police to use tear gas and water cannon to disperse the demonstrators.
During the rally, University of Indonesia lecturer Ade Armando was attacked by several protesters; it was not immediately clear what prompted the attack. Videos on social media showed Ade with a bloodied face being escorted by police personnel into the House complex.
Monday’s rally in Jakarta was expected to be much larger than a string of student-led protests that have been held across the country, including in Bogor in West Java, Makassar in South Sulawesi and Semarang in Central Java in the past week.
Jakarta Police deployed 6,000 personnel to safeguard the rally and redirected traffic on several roads in anticipation. Police personnel in Jakarta’s satellite cities were also posted at train stations, bus terminals and main roads to Jakarta to prevent students from joining their peers in the capital.
On Monday, student rallies were staged in cities including Bandung, West Java; Semarang; Palu, Central Sulawesi; and Palembang, South Sumatra.
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