Approaching the 2024 General Election in Indonesia, which will be participated by three presidential candidates, namely candidate number 1, Anies Baswedan, who is accompanied by his running mate, Muhaimin Iskandar, candidate number 2, Prabowo Subianto, who is accompanied by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming, and candidate number 3, Ganjar Pranowo, who is accompanied by his running mate, Mahfud MD. Each candidate is campaigning to attract as many citizens as possible to support them.
It turns out that Moeldoko, as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, and Erick Thohir, as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), support candidate number 3, Ganjar Pranowo, with Mahfud MD as his running mate. They claim that the pair is very good because Ganjar Pranowo has served as a member of the House of Representatives and as the Governor of Central Java for two terms, and all of his tasks have been carried out well. Meanwhile, Mahfud MD has served as a member of the House of Representatives, former Chairman of the Constitutional Court, and Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs who has successfully handled corruption cases worth Rp. 349 trillion in the Ministry of Finance, according to public acknowledgment.
President Joko Widodo was surprised to see his Minister, Moeldoko, under his control, supporting Ganjar Pranowo instead of supporting candidate number 2, Prabowo Subianto, who is accompanied by his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming, as the Vice Presidential candidate, who is also the biological son of President Joko Widodo. This also includes Erick Thohir, as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), who supports candidate number 3, Ganjar Pranowo, with Mahfud MD as his running mate.
Moeldoko and Erick Thohir’s support for Ganjar Pranowo is a sign that President Joko Widodo has lost his influence in front of his subordinates or staff. It is suspected that the initial cause was the Constitutional Court Decision Number 90 of 2023, which was legally flawed or invalid, which made Gibran Rakabuming eligible as a Vice Presidential candidate who accompanies Prabowo Subianto as the goal of forming a dynasty or family politics that contradicts the Democratic Principles formulated in Pancasila as the Ideology and Foundation of the Indonesian State. This has caused President Joko Widodo’s name to fall in the eyes of the public, and there are accusations that he is power-hungry and a traitor to the Indonesian nation.
Another reason why Moeldoko as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, and Erick Thohir as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) support candidate number 3, Presidential Candidate Ganjar Pranowo, with Vice Presidential Candidate Mahfud MD, is because Prabowo Subianto has a bad history, especially when former President Suharto fired his own son-in-law, Prabowo Subianto, who was a high-ranking military officer with the rank of Lieutenant General with Three Stars, related to the kidnapping of 13 activists in 1998, and until now their whereabouts are still unknown. After serving as Minister of Defense, he bought used fighter jets that were already 20 years old and just waited to be broken down, which was suspected of being corrupted in the purchase receipt as a new fighter jet, and the Food Estate or Lumbung Pangan project in Kalimantan with a budget of hundreds of billions of rupiah that failed completely but the budget was spent, suspected of being corrupted. According to information, Prabowo checked the neck of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture before the meeting started at the State Palace, and also Gibran Rakabuming, as the newly appointed Mayor of Solo, who has only served for two years, is considered to have no experience and has never been a Member of Parliament, Governor, or Minister, who directly jumped to become a Vice Presidential Candidate.
President Joko Widodo’s disappointment or shock towards Moeldoko as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, and Erick Thohir as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) is because of their significant influence that can attract supporters for Ganjar Pranowo from Prabowo Subianto’s supporters, even though Gibran Rakabuming is the biological son of President Joko Widodo. Moeldoko as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, and Erick Thohir as the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises and Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) should have supported candidate number 2, Presidential Candidate Prabowo Subianto, who is accompanied by Gibran Rakabuming as the Vice Presidential Candidate because Gibran Rakabuming, as the Vice Presidential Candidate and the biological son of President Joko Widodo, has no experience in governance, especially since he has never been a Member of Parliament, Governor, or Minister, who directly jumped to become a Vice Presidential Candidate. That is one of the reasons why Moeldoko and Erick Thohir support candidate number 3, Presidential Candidate Ganjar Pranowo, with Vice Presidential Candidate Mahfud MD, who successfully uncovered a corruption case worth Rp. 349 trillion in the Ministry of Finance and has a good track record according to public acknowledgment.
The writer’s hope is that the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Moeldoko, and the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, who also serves as the Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), are right to support candidate number 3, Presidential Candidate Ganjar Pranowo, with Mahfud MD as a sign that President Joko Widodo has lost his influence over his subordinates as ministers. This is because President Joko Widodo made his son, Gibran Rakabuming, a Vice Presidential Candidate to fulfill his requirements by utilizing his brother, Anwar Usman, as the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, who issued Decision Number 90 of 2023, which formed a dynasty or family politics that contradicts the principles of democracy that are already enshrined in the Pancasila philosophy as the ideology and foundation of the Indonesian state. As a result, the people are disappointed and very angry, even accusing President Joko Widodo of being power-hungry and a traitor to the Indonesian nation, even though the principles of democracy and Pancasila must be obeyed by all Indonesians, including high-ranking officials, big businessmen, and ordinary people, without exception, as the foundation of the Indonesian state, which is based on Indonesia as a state of law and the law as the Supreme Commander of all state institutions, and is based on the principle of criminal law equality before the law, meaning that anyone who violates the law, whether it is President Joko Widodo, big businessmen, or ordinary people, must be punished without exception.
