TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Anies Baswedan, who is endorsed to be a presidential candidate in the 2024 election by the Coalition for Change, demanded the state not interfere in the process of nominating figures. According to him, after 25 years of reform, people still feel pressured to exercise democracy.

“Today, some of us feel that freedom is being suppressed. In the past, the state regulated who would and who could run for legislative candidates, who could run for the presidential election, and who could run for mayor or regent. Everything was regulated. Today, there should be no regulation on who can and who can't run,” Anies said at the Tennis Indoor Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Sunday, May 21, 2023.

He made the statement when meeting the volunteer group for his candidacy at the National Volunteers Gathering. The event was attended by thousands of volunteers from various regions.

The statement seemed to satirize President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who often voices support for a number of candidates who will vie in the upcoming presidential election. They are Ganjar Pranowo who is declared by PDIP and Prabowo Subianto who is endorsed by Gerindra Party.

Anies, meanwhile, is often referred to as a candidate that is not blessed by the President. Acts preventing the former Jakarta governor to run for the election erupted after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Firli Bahuri reportedly forced an investigation into the alleged corruption case of Formula E in the capital.

It is the political party’s authority and people’s aspirations to determine whether someone can or cannot run for the 2024 presidential election, Anies emphasized. The state must thus guarantee such freedom, rather than restrict it.

“The state must guarantee the independence and that’s what we have to fight now,” Anies Baswedan remarked.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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