Democrat Party Slams Jokowi's Palace Meeting as Unethical

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Democratic Party’s head of the party’s election campaign Andi Arief lamented President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s decision to gather political party chairpersons that are in coalition with the government. He believes the President’s stand was unethical. 

“The [Presidential Palace] is the place where the President leads his subordinates. Political Party leaders are not his subordinates. From my point of view, it is unethical to showcase it publically” said Andi Arief on May 3. 

He asserted that no regulation bans such gatherings but he questioned the ethics of conducting such a meeting, which could have been held in a personal space such as the President’s house or other locations not linked to the state. 

On Tuesday evening, May 2, President Jokowi hosted a meeting that invited six chairmen of political parties to the State Palace for a meeting that lasted roughly two hours. According to the Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto, the event was simply a silaturrahmi (gathering) between political parties that align with the government. 

“We talked about the challenges of the future and what we achieved in terms of development,” said Airlangga after the meeting. 

Apart from Airlangga Hartarto, other notable political party leaders present in the meeting were Prabowo Subianto for Gerindra, Megawati Soekarnoputri for PDIP, Muhammad Mardiono for PPP, Zulkifli Hasan for PAN, and PKB’s chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar. 

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH I FAJAR PEBRIANTO

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