Campaign Team on Andi Arief: Jokowi Serious about Combating Drugs

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A spokesman of the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team, Ace Hasan Syadzili, said he believed the police would be professional in dealing with the narcotics case implicating Democrat politician Andi Arief.

“We believe the police will be professional and objective in handling the narcotics case that involved Andi Arief,” he said at the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Media Center on Jl. Cemara, Menteng, South Jakarta, Monday, March 4, 2019.

Ace said Andi’s arrest was part of the Jokowi administration’ success in battling narcotics.

“This is a form of seriousness of the Jokowi government that Andi Arief can be arrested as he is proved to use illegal drugs,” said the Golkar Party politician.

The police arrested Andi Arief at a West Jakarta hotel on Sunday, March 4, on drug charges. The investigation is still underway. The police assured that Andi Arief tested positive for crystal meth. However, the police have not yet named him as a suspect. 

Read: Police Arrest Democrat Politician Andi Arief on Drug Charges

Ace balked at commenting on Andi Arief’s frequently posting controversial issues on his Twitter account during this political year, saying let the public assess the matter.

Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, Andi Arief seized the spotlight when he called Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto a “cardboard general”. Andi Arief accused Prabowo of receiving money from Sandiaga Uno, which resulted in Prabowo’s tapping the ex-Jakarta deputy governor as his running-mate.

The last public uproar he stirred was when he tweeted about seven containers filled with cast ballots in Tanjung Priok.

FIKRI ARIGI