A Car Free Day attendant takes a selfie with President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo at the Bundaran HI traffic circle in Jakarta on May 12, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: Outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo insisted recently that he would retire and return to his hometown of Surakarta in Central Java upon ending his second term in October.
The statement comes amid overwhelming support for him to play a role in the incoming administration.
“Until today, my plan has not changed,” Jokowi told reporters moments before taking off for a working visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday (July 16), Kompas.com reported.
Months before Jokowi leaves office, support has grown for him to continue to exchange views and ideas on public life in the incoming government of president-elect Prabowo Subianto and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son.
The House of Representatives last week gave the green light for a proposal to revise the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) Law to revive the New Order-era Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), meaning the House is now one step closer to starting a formal deliberation with the government on the bill.
Among the main changes in the revision include the status change of the council, from initially under the President to being a “state institution” separated from the executive branch and “equal to other state institutions”.
While critics have slammed the plan as an attempt to reward those who have helped Prabowo-Gibran win the February presidential election, the proposed changes have secured the support of Jokowi.
Earlier this year, the President also told the media that he had no plans to continue in politics and would retire in Surakarta, also known as Solo, where he served as a two-term mayor from 2005-2012.
“I will return to being an ordinary citizen and go back to Solo,” he said in January. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
