TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin refused to comment much about President Joko Widodo or Jokowi’s statement on the right to take sides and campaign for a presidential candidate of his choice in the upcoming election. Ma'ruf let the public interpret and judge the President's statement and stressed that he had decided not to support any election contestants.

“From the beginning, I have positioned myself to be neutral and not to take sides,” Ma'ruf said in a press statement after a youth meeting at the Vice President's Palace in Jakarta, on Thursday, January 25.

Ma'ruf clarified that his statement did not mean he was taking a different stance from the president, but that the vote was a secret matter. “I said I am neutral. As for my preference, I will just cast it later on February 14, and no one should know,” the VP stressed.

In a press statement after a handover ceremony for new Hercules aircraft to the Air Force at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta on January 24, the President said a sitting president could take sides and campaign for any presidential election as long as he does not use state facilities. The statement was made alongside Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is now running in the presidential election with his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Jokowi's statement sparked criticism, including from presidential candidate number 1 Anies Baswedan, who questioned the president’s stance in remaining neutral during the elections.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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