JAKARTA: Indonesia's Chief Security Minister and vice-presidential candidate Mahfud MD today said he would tender his resignation, a decision his aide said was due to President Joko Widodo taking sides in the campaign for next month's elections.
The office of the president did not immediately respond to request for comment on the allegation about his role in the presidential election on Feb 14, in which he will not compete after having served two terms.
Mahfud said in a live-streamed Instagram statement that he would hand over his resignation letter to Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, once he has the chance to meet the president. He did not say why he would be stepping down.
The president is scheduled to be in Indonesia's capital Jakarta tomorrow.
"I will say my goodbye to the president with honour. I will report to him that I am done (with the job)," Mahfud said.
Mahfud is the running mate of former provincial governor Ganjar Pranowo, who is up against ex-Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan and Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, who is running with Jokowi's son and is leading the race.
Andi Widjajanto, a senior official for Ganjar's ticket, said Mahfud wanted to resign because he saw Jokowi appearing to support Prabowo's ticket.
"Mahfud thought that the president is getting more and more not neutral in the election, the president is taking sides," Andi said.
Other presidential candidates have accused Jokowi of using state facilities to help Prabowo and his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, win. The president has not responded to questions about the allegations. He said last week that a president has the right to campaign for a candidate as long as they do not use state facilities.
Andi said Jokowi's cabinet was "no longer conducive to work in" for Mahfud, as he and some other ministers have not been involved in decision-making processes related to his positions.
Local media have reported that respected Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and several other ministers could quit the cabinet, which could destabilise Jokowi's administration weeks before the voting day.
News of Sri Mulyani's potential exit sent the rupiah tumbling last week, prompting the central bank to intervene in the currency market.
Her ministry has said that she was continuing to carry out her duties and on Tuesday, Sri Mulyani held a quarterly news conference on the state of financial markets stability.
Opinion surveys show the pairing of Ganjar and Mahfud in last place in the race to lead the world's third-largest democracy, just lagging another candidate Anies Baswedan, but well behind Prabowo. — Reuters