TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi said he and Anies Baswedan had a good relationship, wondering about an issue on media that he and Jakarta Governor had a clash.

During an event of certificate distribution in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, today, January 9, Jokowi and Anies refuted the issue.

“Many people think that I and Pak Anies have a problem. While in fact, every day I meet [Anies], we laugh together,”

Today, Jokowi and Anies attended two different agenda; a meeting with clients of state-owned financing company Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM) in Tambora, West Jakarta, and the certificate distribution event.

Jokowi occasionally made Anies as a joke material with the public during the event. For example, when PNM clients asked for the additional loan, Jokowi said it would be given by Anies. “Ask pak Governor,” he said, with a laugh. Anies was also laughing.

Both figures have indeed a close relationship. Back in the 2014 presidential election, Anies joined Jokowi’s campaign team, and after elected as president, Jokowi appointed him as Education and Culture Minister despite the dismissal in 2016.

However, for the 2019 election, Anies decided to take a side of Jokowi’s opponent, Prabowo Subianto, who is now paired with Sandiaga Uno.

In the certificate distribution event, Jokowi appealed to the public to maintain the unity ahead of the upcoming election. He demanded different choices must not break apart the relationship.

Jokowi said that Indonesia is a large country that has more than 17,000 islands, and that its largest asset is the unity. In addition, the president reminded the public not fall for the hoax news that rampant ahead of the election or even spread one. Those behavior, he opined, were not typical Indonesian manners.

AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI