President Joko Widodo (left) and Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto having lunch at a meatball restaurant in Magelang, Central Java, on Jan 29, 2024. -Tim Media Prabowo
JAKARTA: Presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo has described President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo's lunch with Defence Minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Magelang, Central Java, on Monday (Jan 29) as subject to multiple interpretations.
According to reports, Jokowi and Prabowo had lunch at a meatball restaurant, witnessed by local residents. The lunch took place after both officials attended a ceremony at the Military Academy, in which Jokowi officially opened the academy's main hall, which had just been renovated.
"Sometimes it becomes biased to determine what is what, and which thing is subject to regulation,” said Ganjar in Ambon, on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.
“Later, people will ask about this [lunch]. Did you take leave?"
Ganjar, however, was not bothered by Jokowi's actions as they served as a sign of support from the President to one of the election candidates.
"It is a symbol that further confirms where Jokowi's support is. And for us, it is even better, especially if there is an open statement, so there will be no other interpretation. We respect that," he said.
The former governor of Central Java believes that this particular situation caused many people to demand that state officials be consistently neutral and impartial.
Ganjar pointed to the importance of not risking the country’s democracy with actions that may not abide by the rules.
Accusations have been made regarding the timing of Jokowi's recent official visits to Central Java, with some suggesting these visits coincided with Ganjar's campaign activities in the province. Presidential special staff coordinator Ari Dwipayana, however, has denied such accusations.
"No, it's not. We are not tailing [the campaign]. This issue is a discourse that always arises,” he said in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. “In fact, the President is conducting entirely different working visits from [Ganjar’s] campaign."
Ari said Ganjar’s campaign was held across Indonesia, whereas the President’s working visits were only made to Central Java over the past two weeks.
Jokowi held a working visit in Central Java from Jan 22 to 23, one week after Ganjar toured the province. He then returned to the province on Monday. Then, Jokowi also visited Yogyakarta from Saturday to Sunday.
While in Yogyakarta, Jokowi met with Democratic Party chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono on Sunday. However, the President did not meet Ganjar, who was also in the province that evening. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
