Anies Baswedan Criticizes Jokowi's Cabinet: A Minister Wants to Change Constitution

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Former Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, made a scathing remark against a minister in President Joko Widodo's cabinet. The presidential hopeful said that one of the senior ministers attempted to change the country's constitution.

Anies Baswedan is by far the leading presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. But last year, there were political concerns that President Widodo's government may postpone the election.

Anies Baswedan said a "coordinating minister" is behind that plan. 

"Why there is someone in the key position, Coordinating Minister, speaking of changing the constitution, with a number of people support that," said Anies Baswedan during a speech in a dialogue held by the Muslim Students' Association (KAHMI) in Jakarta, Friday (17/3/2023). 

Anies, who studied politics for his doctoral degree, expressed dismay that such a powerful figure would openly speak about changing the constitution. 

"This is not just lowering the quality of democracy," said Anies, "but someone who does not commit to democracy is getting braver to openly reveal his mind."

Who Is The Coordinating Minister?

Although Anies did not mention any name, last year the powerful Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan did speak openly about the possibility of postponing the presidential election, which could violate the constitution of Indonesia.

Luhut claimed he got "big data" that indicated many people wanted to postpone the election, although he refused to publicly open the "big data".

In the cabinet, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is a coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs.

However, Luhut has held various key positions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the planned new capital of Indonesia, the development of high speed railway Jakarta-Bandung with China, and the national lakes committee, among others.

There are four coordinating ministers in the current President Jokowi's cabinet. The other three are Mahfud MD (politics, law, and security), Airlangga Hartarto (economics), and Muhadjir Effendy (human development and cultural). None of them ever openly supported the postponement of 2024 elections.