Palace Says will Welcome Visit by former President Yudhoyono

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will always welcome any visits to meet him, including a possible visit by Indonesia’s sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He said that Yudhoyono would not be denied a meeting with the President.

The statement was issued following Yudhoyono’s remarks that Jokowi’s aides had been preventing him from meeting with the President. “Any meeting with President Joko Widodo had been held upon request of the guests,” Pramono said at the Presidential Palace.

Also read: SBY Wishes to Meet Jokowi over Treason Rumors

According to Pramono, the President has never restricted or banned anyone from meeting him. Any individuals wanting to meet the President would need to follow the proper mechanism. 

Earlier, Yudhoyono said that he wanted to meet Jokowi. He, however, was told that Jokowi’s aides had denied him a meeting. “I received the info from three sources. They said no to the President, so I was told,” Yudhoyono said, during a press conference on alleged wiretapping of his conversation with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma’ruf Amin yesterday in Jakarta.

Yudhoyono also expects Jokowi to address the alleged wiretapping. “My rights have been trampled and my privacy, which is protected by the laws, has been breached by wiretapping.” The statements were made following blasphemy defendant Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s remarks in Tuesday’s trial that he was told Yudhoyono and Ma’ruf held the conversation on October last year.

Moreover, Yudhoyono has expressed his hope of meeting Jokowi to clarify some issues, including the rumor of funding for anti-Ahok rallies and alleged treason plot. “I want to clarify with a good will and good intentions, to avoid prejudice,” he said. After presidential succession in 2014, Jokowi had never met with Yudhoyono.

ARKHELAUS W l ISTMAN MP