Dasco Clarifies Birthday Greeting for Nadiem Makarim

Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Sufmi Dasco Ahmad has issued a clarification regarding speculation that arose from a birthday greeting he posted for former Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim on his personal Instagram account. Dasco stressed that the post carried no political content or any specific hidden agenda. According to Dasco, the greeting was an initiative by his new social media administrator. He explained that his staff member is now getting into the habit of offering birthday wishes to various public figures through his official account. “So my new admin, he is now getting used to wishing every public figure a happy birthday. As you will see later, starting yesterday, then today, and so on,” Dasco said at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (6/7). The Gerindra Party politician firmly denied that the post was linked to the issue of providing legal assistance or the discourse on presidential prerogative rights such as amnesty and abolition for Nadiem. As is known, Nadiem Makarim is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of IDR 1 billion for a corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks and Chrome Device Management (CDM) for the 2019-2022 fiscal year. Regarding the speculation about legal assistance, Dasco stated that this matter was entirely the domain of Nadiem and his legal team. He admitted he was puzzled as to why a birthday greeting could develop into far-reaching legal speculation. “If legal assistance is to be provided, it would surely be done by his lawyers, wouldn’t it? Why would I be providing legal assistance,” he continued. Dasco concluded his statement by reiterating that there was no hidden agenda behind the post. He confessed to being confused in answering the many questions linking the birthday greeting to the ongoing legal process.