JAKARTA: The Constitutional Court (MK) rejected the request to summon President Joko Widodo to the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres) General Election Results Dispute (PHPU) hearing.
Constitutional Court (MK) Judge Arief Hidayat explained that the reason the MK did not summon President Jokowi was because of his position as head of state and head of government.
In his explanation to the Antara news agency, Friday (5 April), Arief said that President Jokowi was not present considering the symbolic position held by a head of state which must be upheld.
Instead, the MK decided to summon four ministers from the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet who were related to the arguments put forward by the two parties to the dispute, namely the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud Md camps.
Constitutional Court Judge Arief acknowledged the commotion in the 2024 presidential election.
“There were ethical violations committed at the Constitutional Court, committed at the KPU, and many more which caused the commotion,” he said, quoted by Republika.
The four ministers who testified at the trial this morning were the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, and the Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini.
The ministers were summoned because of the plaintiff’s allegations that the Jokowi government’s social assistance (bansos) program carried out during the 2024 presidential election campaign contributed greatly to Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s landslide victory.
The request to summon President Jokowi and eight other high-ranking government officials was conveyed in an open letter submitted by the Civil Society Coalition for Democracy and Anti-Corruption to the MK building.
The eight ranks in question are Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, and Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas. Next, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, TNI Commander Agus Subiyanto, Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin, and Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Budi Gunawan.
Members of the Civil Society Coalition include former KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo, former KPK commissioner Saut Situmorang, former KPK investigator Novel Baswedan, former Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo, and Secretary General of Transparency International Danang Widoyoko.
Other names not to be missed are member of the advisory board of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Titi Anggraeni, constitutional law expert Feri Amsari, Chair of the Advisory Board of the Public Virtue Research Institute Tamrin Amal, and Director of Amnesty International Indonesia Usman Hamid.
The coalition highlights the role played by the President in organizing the 2024 elections, especially in relation to the distribution of social assistance and the mobilization of security forces.
