Jokowi Needs 1-2 Days to Seek Mahfud Md's Replacement

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi said Friday that he is preparing a Presidential Decree on the dismissal of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md. He said it would take one to two days to find a replacement.

“No [replacement] yet. We'll see. It was only yesterday afternoon [the resignation letter was submitted],” the President said when met at Tanjung Priok Port after the GP Ansor Congress on Friday, Feb. 2.

Mahfud Md, who is currently running with Ganjar Pranowo in the upcoming presidential election, presented his resignation letter to the President at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 1. 

He claimed to have expressed his gratitude and apology in the ten-minute meeting with Jokowi. He also said the meeting was free of tension and full of warmth. “We both smiled,” the former chief justice of the Constitutional Court said in a press conference with State Secretary Minister Pratikno after the meeting.

He added that the President also thanked him for his service as Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs since October 2019, the longest tenure among other coordinating ministers namely Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Wiranto.

State Secretary Minister Pratikno and Presidential Special Staff Coordinator Ari Dwipayana were tight-lipped when asked about candidates to replace Mahfud Md as Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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