Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – The Association of Indonesian Catholic Higher Education Institutions (APTIK) has asked President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to hold firmly to his oath of office as president.
The association, which consists of rectors and heads of Catholic universities in Indonesia, also urged Widodo to uphold ethics in working as the head of state and government.
This was conveyed by APTIK Coordinator Gregorius Sri Nurhartanto in a statement received by Kompas.com on Saturday February 3.
"Firstly, the president and all his officials must administer the government based on the principles of good governance and firmly uphold their oath of office in accordance with their main duties and functions", he said.
"To improve the welfare of the Indonesian people by fighting collusion, corruption and nepotism as well as enforcing the law by not using a system of favouritism and always upholding ethics in their work", continued Nurhartanto.
Second, Nurhartanto urged election organisers to uphold the principle of elections that are direct, open, free, confidential, honest and fair.
These principles are needed to guarantee the rights of every person who has the right to vote to be able to exercise this freely according to their conscience without being pressured in any way.
Third, Nurhartanto asked that the state civil apparatus, the TNI (Indonesian military), Polri (Indonesian police) remain neutral and not take sides with certain choices.
"Fourth, the state is obliged to respect, protect and fulfill the right to freedom of expression of every citizen as part of human rights", he said.
Nurhartanto then urged that a peaceful approach be prioritised in overcome problems during the campaign period up until the elections are over.
"Sixth, that higher education institutions in Indonesia be actively involved in monitoring and supervising the general elections", he added.
This call, said Nurhartanto, was made based on the uneasiness and increasingly worrying state of the legal and democratic order ahead of the 2024 elections.
"Practices of power abuse, collusion, corruption and nepotism as well as law enforcement which is increasingly deviating from the spirit of reformasi [the 1998 reform process] and the country's constitution have torn at the conscience and sense of justice of the Indonesian nation", said Nurhartanto.
"Therefore we call on all parties with an interest in organising the 2024 elections [to act] in a qualified, dignified, honest and fair manner", he asserted.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Asosiasi Perguruan Tinggi Katolik Minta Jokowi Junjung Tinggi Etika".]
