Refer Report

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who enjoyed the highest popularity throughout his term, is facing criticism for excessively promoting his two sons in the final days of his term. Following criticism that he nullified the law to allow his two sons to run for office, he has now been embroiled in controversy over his second son’s extravagance.

According to Reuters on the 28th (local time), the Indonesian Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) announced that it plans to look into the expenses of the private aircraft used by President Joko Widodo’s second son, Kaesang Pang’arup, during his recent trip to the United States.

“If the use of the private jet is related to his father, it should be considered as an inappropriate gift,” said KPK Vice Chairman Alexander Marwata, referring to the ban on public officials accepting gifts. Although Kaesang is not a public official, he is the president’s son, so if someone else paid for his travel expenses, it could be problematic.

The issue was brought to light when Kaesang’s wife, Erina Gudono, posted a photo of an airplane window on social media. Those who saw the photo estimated that the plane was owned by a private aircraft company and that the cost of the flight to the United States was 8.6 billion rupiah (approximately 750 million won).

This coincided with the time when President Joko Widodo and the ruling party were criticized for trying to forcibly revise the election law, which led to great public outrage. According to the election law, the age limit for running for office is 30, and Kaesang, who met that age at the end of December this year, cannot run in the local elections held in November. However, President Joko Widodo tried to change the law to allow Kaesang to run, and withdrew only after being met with large-scale protests.

This is not the first time that President Joko Widodo has faced a backlash for trying to establish a “political dynasty” by putting his son forward. In last year’s presidential election, he also appointed his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as vice president. At the time, Gibran was 36 years old, and under the rule that the eligibility for election for president and vice president was limited to those over 40, he would not have been able to run, but the Constitutional Court made an exception for those with elected office experience, opening the way. There was controversy over preferential treatment because Gibran was the mayor of Surakarta (Solo) at the time, and the head of the Constitutional Court is Joko Widodo’s brother-in-law.

This move is damaging President Jokowi’s popularity, which still enjoys a 70% approval rating even at the end of his term. According to the Jakarta Post, there has been a movement on Indonesian social media to express anger by calling President Jokowi by his childhood name, Mulyono. Mulyono originally means “noble one,” but Jokowi changed his name to his current name, which means “healthy young man,” because he was weak as a child.

The Jakarta Post reported that “there is a belief in Java that a name determines happiness. They believe that if Jokowi uses the name he had as a weak child, it will hasten his downfall.” Students who participated in the protests against the election law revision also referred to President Jokowi as Mulyono.

There was also growing criticism from civil society over the harsh crackdown on protesters opposing the election law amendment. At the time, as the protests spread across the country, President Joko Widodo acknowledged the importance of protests in democracy, but ordered the police to immediately disperse the protesters. Water cannons and tear gas were used to suppress the protesters, and many protesters were hospitalized or detained in various regions.

“The unnecessary and uncontrolled use of tear gas and beatings has resulted in many casualties. The level of police violence is intolerable,” Amnesty International Indonesia told the Jakarta Post.

Source: Korean