Day: February 7, 2024

Instead of humbly accepting criticism about democratic backsliding, nepotism, and abuse of power to shore up support for own son Gibran, the Palace of Jokowi accused professors, lecturers, and the academic community nationwide of playing partisanship in politics. Professor Koentjoro from Jokowi’s almamater UGM in Yogyakarta was irritated by the allegation saying ‘over 250 professors participated in the discussion’ leading to the reading of petition, which triggered wave of similar petitions from almost all universities in the country. 

The tension is heating up with only a week left before the election day. It is apparent in the recent movement from universities against President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Former Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law & Security Affairs Mahfud MD, who is running in 2024 race as the running mate of Ganjar Pranowo, spoke on Tuesday (Feb. 6) about a silent operation on universities’ rectors to make a counter-movement. Meanwhile, the Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia, who is supporting Prabowo-Gibran, argued that the movement from these universities against Jokowi is a part of a scenario.

Poltracking released the result of its electability survey on Tuesday (Feb. 6), in which the pollster found that Prabowo-Gibran secured more than 60 percent of electability in East Java, the second most populous province in Indonesia. However, the biggest question about the pollster is whether they are reliable and trustworthy.