TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) legislator Fadli Zon considers it fair play if former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) recently declared he would “come out of retirement” and actively participate in the 2024 General Elections, which SBY fears would see widespread frauds.

“That is SBY’s opinion, he is entitled to his opinion. And in my personal opinion, our general elections through the years were not run entirely fair and honest,” said Fadli Zon at the House of Representative's headquarters on September 22.

He also hinted that the country’s election is marred by systemic, structured, and massive fraud.

“We all know this, we’ve been citizens of the country for so long. So, I think his statement was more about his political statement that SBY will increase his participation in his political party, which is valid enough of a reason,” Zon added.

SBY’s Initial Statement

As previously reported, SBY, who is the Democrat Party board of trustees chairman, said that he would “get out of retirement” in the upcoming 2024 presidential election or the general elections during a speech delivered exclusively to Democrat Party members in Jakarta.

SBY at the time said that he was motivated to be more active in the upcoming election after receiving information about possible fraudulent schemes in the 2024 general election.

Meanwhile, when asked about this, Democratic Party spokesperson Herzaky Mahendra Putra remained tight-lipped and only asserted that the speech the sixth Indonesian President gave was meant for Party members only.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA | GADIS OKTAVIANI

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