Indonesia president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has clarified comments on Jan. 26 that he made about his right under the law to campaign for election candidates, adding that his comments should not be taken out of context.

“Don’t interpret it elsewhere. I simply conveyed the provisions of the law, because I was asked,” said Jokowi.

A president can 'pick a side'

Earlier on Jan. 24, Jokowi said that he could campaign for election candidates and "pick a side".

“Yes, a president can join the campaign. Yes, a president can pick a side. All that is permitted as long as he does not use state facilities,” he was quoted as saying by Jakarta Post during a press briefing.

During the briefing after a military ceremony, Gerindra Party presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto was standing next to him, present at the event in his capacity as Indonesia's defence minister.

'Don't interpret it elsewhere'

On Jan. 26, Jokowi was responding to journalists who were asking about ministers in the cabinet participating in the campaigns of election candidates.

His reply was uploaded onto the presidential secretariat's YouTube page.

In the video, Jokowi can be seen holding up a large piece of paper that had Article 299 of Indonesia’s election law written on it, which states that sitting presidents can take part in campaigns.

State facilities cannot be used in the campaigns except for security facilities, as stated by Article 281 which Jokowi also showed on another piece of paper.

Under this provision, presidents and vice-presidents must take leave to take part in campaigns.

Jokowi said, "There was a question from journalists about whether the minister could campaign or not, I conveyed the provisions of the statutory regulations...(it) clearly states in Article 299 that the president and vice president have the right to carry out campaigns."

Jokowi also implored the public not to interpret things further, and repeated that he was just conveying the provisions of the law because he was asked.

Criticism for previous remarks

Jokowi’s remarks on Jan. 24 have drawn criticism from netizens and presidential candidates’ campaign teams alike.

For instance, concerns of potential “nepotism” were raised by one member of candidate Ganjar Pranowo's team, as Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka is Prabowo’s running mate.

Ganjar is from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Jokowi represented the PDI-P at both the 2014 and 2019 elections.

Over 200 million eligible Indonesian voters will head to the polls on Feb 14. They will be voting between Prabowo, Ganjar, and a third candidate, Anies Baswedan.

You can view Jokowi's Jan. 26 statement on YouTube:

Top image from Sekretariat Presiden/YouTube.

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