President Joko Widodo (centre) greeting people on a visit to Dukuh Kupang Market in Surabaya on Sept 20, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: The lineup of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) is the business of the administration of president-elect Prabowo Subianto, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.
“That’s a matter for the upcoming administration. I don’t want to comment,” Jokowi said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
The President dismissed recent rumours that he would hold a position on the board following a swift revision of the Wantimpres Law by the House of Representatives last week, only a month before his decade-long presidency will end on Oct. 20.
The amendment removes a limit of nine on the number of council members and allows the sitting president to determine who sits on it “in accordance with his needs”. The board’s chairmanship will also rotate between board members, according to a provision in the revised law.
Prabowo’s camp previously floated a plan to establish a so-called president’s club consisting of the country’s sitting and living former presidents as a forum for them to exchange views and ideas on strategic national issues.
Many speculate that the swift revision of the law was to pave a way for Jokowi to secure a seat on the board, allowing him to remain in the government as one of Prabowo’s advisors. Jokowi had been repeatedly saying that he would return to his hometown of Surakarta, Central Java, to “become an ordinary citizen” after leaving office.
But his loyal aides, including Maruarar Sirait of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party and Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, said Jokowi was too young to retire from politics and would be a good fit for a job in Wantimpres.
After the revised law was passed last week, Gerindra executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said that nothing, including who would sit on Wantimpres, had been decided so far.
Experts said the law revision would allow Prabowo to accommodate his allies who supported him in February’s presidential elections, including Jokowi.
But it remains to be seen how much influence Jokowi will have with the Prabowo administration, particularly amid signs of a rift between the two politicians. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
