TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Deputy IV Chief Expert of the Presidential Staff Office, Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, explained the Christmas greetings by the vice-presidential candidate Ma’ruf Amin. The video of Ma’ruf about Christmas greetings is viral on social media.

“Christmas is something that preserves honor. Islam does not prohibit. I have also wished my friends a merry Christmas. Christmas provides positive energy for the lives of many people,” Ngabalin said when met at the Yogyakarta Adisucipto Airport on Tuesday, December 25.

Ngabalin asked that there should be no contradiction and dichotomy between things that could disintegrate the Indonesian people. Christmas is a day where people and Christians are happy.

“So we also say that Christmas brings peace and gives positive energy to many people. I am Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, Chief Expert of the Presidential Staff Office, wish the Christians a Merry Christmas wherever you are,” he said.

Regarding the Christmas greetings by Ma’ruf Amin, which considered by many people to violate the ulema’s fatwa, Ngabalin stated that it was not true. It is precisely those who attack Ma’ruf who are politicizing religion.

“This country was established by many powers. Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and all ethnicities,” Ngabalin said.

“There should be no more dichotomies that divide the people. You may be different about who you vote, but the difference in the choice of the president should not divide the people,” Ali Mochtar Ngabalin said.

MUH SYAIFULLAH