Jesuit Father Franz Magnis-Suseno. (Photo: UCA News)
A Catholic priest has accused President Joko Widodo of serious ethical violations in the recently concluded presidential polls where his eldest son tried his luck as vice-presidential candidate and won.
Germany-born Jesuit priest Father Franz Magnis-Suseno, a professor of philosophy at the Jakarta-based Driyarkara School of Philosophy, revealed the allegations when appearing as an expert witness in a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court, a top court in the Muslim-majority nation
The professor at the institute run by the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Jakarta archdiocese, was presented by the legal team of the losing candidate duo of Ganjar Pranowo and Mohammad Mahfud MD at the hearing on April 2.
They are challenging the Feb. 14 elections which were won by Prabowo Subianto and his deputy Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Widodo's eldest son, with a 58 percent vote share.
Magnis, an Indonesian citizen since 1977 who is often asked for his opinion as an expert by trial courts, said Widodo's serious ethical violations occurred through a controversial Constitutional Court decision.
Raka became a candidate after the Constitutional Court in October allowed candidates under the age of 40 to run for president and vice president if they held an office at the regional level.
The nine-member court was headed by Anwar Usman, Widodo's brother-in-law, and the 36-year-old Raka currently serves as mayor of Surakarta in Central Java.
Magnis, who arrived in Indonesia in 1961 and is known as a government critic, highlighted Widodo's partiality in using his power to give instructions to civil servants, police and military "to support one of the candidates."
Magnis termed the distribution of social aid ahead of the elections by Widodo a violation. "Yes, a violation of ethics. That's also a sign that he has lost his ethical insight," he said.
Hotman Paris Hutapea, who is part of the Subianto-Raka defense team, however, refuted the allegations by Magnis.
He claimed Widodo was distributing the social assistance symbolically.
In response to the allegations, Raka told reporters, "If there are things that are not acceptable, just prove them."
Father Otto Gusti Madung, rector of Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology on the Catholic majority Flores island, concurred with Magnis' allegations.
“If abuse of power is allowed, it will create a precedent in the future that anyone in power can do anything. This is not good for democracy," he told UCA News.
If the violations by Widodo are allowed to pass without sanctions, then it could undermine the rule of law, he added.
Lucius Karus, a Catholic political observer, stated that the court dispute will have an impact on the election results.
“We could even say it's impossible. However, various allegations of fraud and ethical violations that occurred during the election are important to be discussed," he said.
Karus said that if it were allowed to happen, it would be the same "as normalizing violations."
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