Erick Thohir says Jokowi`s Aggressive Campaign is Calculated

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jokowi – Ma’ruf Amin national campaign team (TKN) leader Erick Thohir claims that his team has thoroughly calculated the electoral effect of the incumbent candidate’s aggressive campaign behavior lately.

“[Jokowi] is simply stating data and facts. Everything is done through careful calculations,” said Erick Thohir in a written statement dated Wednesday, February 6.

This aggressive style of playing in the offense, he said, is a result of a survey done prior to the first presidential debate suggesting that Jokowi’s hardline voters are not affected and that it has constantly hovered at 54 percent and said that 82 percent of voters do not plan to change their decision.

Read also: Erick Thohir Leads Jokowi-Ma'ruf Camp to Play Offensive

However, Erick mentioned a poll done by the Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) that shows 18 percent of undecided voters exists. “This is the group that we are trying to attract,” said Erick.

The incumbent presidential candidate once revealed the reason behind his recent aggressive style against his opposition during the 72^nd anniversary of the Islamic Students Community on Tuesday.

Jokowi deemed that the time has come for him to attack the opposition considering that he opted for a defensive strategy since he was elected into office back in 2014. “You can’t tell us to stay quiet for four years,” said Jokowi.

DEWI NURITA