Senior aide denies Jokowi used law enforcers to intimidate opposition

JAKARTA: A senior aide to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has denied an allegation that the outgoing president had resorted to using law enforcement agencies to intimidate politicians within and outside of his government into supporting his agendas.

Coordinator of President Jokowi’s special aides Ari Dwipayana said in a press statement published on Saturday (Aug 17) that the claim made by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary general Hasto Kristiyanto alleging that the President marshaled law enforcers to do his bidding was false and unsubstantiated.

“The allegation made by Bapak Hasto Kristiyanto is false.

“President Jokowi never resorted to using law enforcers to intimidate certain parties,” Ari said, as quoted by Antara.

Speaking to reporters who covered the PDI-P’s Independence Day celebration at the party headquarters over the weekend, Hasto claimed that he had an audio recording that he could use to back up a claim that the President had ordered members of law enforcement agencies to intimidate rival politicians.

Hasto later played the audio recording to a gaggle of reporters covering the event.

In the audio recording, an individual purported to be President Jokowi could be heard ordering the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO)and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to keep an eye on individuals who did not follow his order.

Ari said that the audio clip played by Hasto was not from a private conversation and was in fact a speech the President gave during a national coordination meeting in 2019.

“The speech from the President is available for everyone to access and the event itself was covered by the media.

“The audio clip from the meeting was somehow edited and that has given rise to a different perception,” Ari said.

The relationship between President Jokowi and the PDI-P has reached its nadir following the former’s decision to back the presidential bid of Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto in this year’s presidential election.

In the last few months, the PDI-P has stepped up its attacks on the President with the latest salvo being delivered by senior party leader Puan Maharani during her speech on Friday at the House of Representatives.

In her speech, Puan compared the February presidential election to the elections of the New Order authoritarian regime for its blatant ethics violations and alleged vote-rigging. – The Jakarta Post/ANN