Former Indonesian presidential candidate Ganjar says will not join incoming Prabowo administration
Mr Ganjar on Monday also urged his supporters not to engage in criticising either side of the administration.
“By taking this approach, political morality can prevail and the correct approach to politics can be elevated. It will also foster mutual respect without the need for any mutual criticism of each other,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Ganjar also stressed that parliament should serve as the appropriate platform for expressing criticism which helps in providing an effective oversight of the government. .
“The most appropriate way to criticise must be through the right channel, which is parliament. That is the best way for us to take any appropriate actions,” he said.
Mr Ganjar’s former running mate, Mr Mahfud MD, also affirmed his commitment in advancing democracy through various platforms, including via political parties and movements.
The former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs said that political movements transcend political parties and they emerge from within civil society, organisations and the media.
Mr Mahfud is currently working to revive the civil society that once succeeded in providing a unified front to build democracy in Indonesia, said local media outlet Tempo quoting the former minister.
He also plans to resume teaching at a university to rectify what he said were “weaknesses” in the current state of the legal system where affairs were conducted “without ethical standards”.
Without giving specific details, Mr Mahfud said that laws should not be moulded according to the short-term interests of certain elites. This situation must be corrected, he added.
“I will oversee this matter of law, especially in the courts because laws evolve through the process of lawmaking, day to day government work, and in the courts,” said Mr Mahfud, adding that their supporters must be organised to ensure that the country remains safe.
This is not the first time that Mr Ganjar has expressed his intention to be in the opposition against the Prabowo government. In March, the 55-year-old said that he would not accept any offer to be part of the Prabowo administration.
The Ganjar-Mahfud presidential election team came in third by securing over 16 percent of the votes in the Feb 14 election. They came in behind the pairing of Mr Prabowo and Mr Gibran, who won 59 per cent of the votes as well as Mr Anies Baswedan and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar. The latter pulled in about 25 per cent of the votes.
