State Secretary Denies Meeting With Prabowo to Lobby for Anies's Nomination
Jakarta. State Secretary Pratikno has denied reports that he had arranged a meeting with Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party chairman Prabowo Subianto to lobby for the former education minister Anies Baswedan's nomination as Jakarta governor.
Pratikno's comment came after Gerindra politician Arief Puyuono said Pratikno and Prabowo had held a closed meeting before Gerindra and the Prosperous Justice Party announced Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno as their picks for governor and deputy governor in next year's Jakarta election.
"That is not true. I did not meet Prabowo or other Gerindra politicians," Pratikno told reporters at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (28/09).
Pratikno, a former rector of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said he does not personally know Prabowo and has never met him outside of formal occasions.
He also reiterated the Palace's support for a democratic election next year in Jakarta, and said that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo will stay neutral in the country's most prestigious regional election.
"The president said the election must be democratic, the whole point of the exercise is to choose the right leader who can build Jakarta. The capital needs a strong, committed leader," Pratikno said.
Anies was sacked from his post as education minister in the second cabinet shakedown in July, reportedly following his failure to implement Jokowi's much-touted Indonesian Smart Card (KIP), which was designed to help poor students continue their education.
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