Dudung: Mr Rizieq is Old, I am Old Too, Let Us Build Tranquillity
Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Dudung Abdurachman has responded to the accusations from Habib Rizieq Shihab, who referred to him as the figure of the ‘Billboard General’ behind President Prabowo Subianto’s statement regarding Yemen.
In a speech in Cilacap on Wednesday (29/4) last week, Prabowo sharply criticised those who do not love the homeland and invited them to simply flee to Yemen.
Dudung emphasised that Prabowo’s narrative about Yemen did not originate from him and urged all parties to stop provoking the situation.
“Yes, that is not, not from me,” Dudung said when asked for comment at the Presidential Staff Office in Central Jakarta on Tuesday (5/5).
Dudung claimed he no longer has any personal issues with Rizieq. He recalled the incident of removing the banners of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) several years ago, which he said was carried out in the context of enforcing the state’s decision against the organisation that had already been dissolved at the time.
According to Dudung, the actions of the apparatus at that time were not a unilateral decision by him, but rather a follow-up after reports to the leadership ranks of the TNI, Police, and government.
“Because FPI was indeed an organisation that had been dissolved at that time. What strengthened it, in my opinion, was because there were calls for the revolution of morality, then the narratives conveyed inviting activities that, in my view, indeed disrupted national unity and integrity,” he stated.
He added that the dissolution of the organisation was also carried out through a government decision, not by him personally. Therefore, Dudung considered it inappropriate to now link him back to the various narratives conveyed by Prabowo.
Nevertheless, Dudung chose to respond to Rizieq’s statement with a restrained tone. He said that both of them are already of advanced age and should be able to play a role in calming society, rather than sharpening political debates.
“Mr Rizieq is old, I am old too. Let us build this nation with tranquillity, without provoking,” he said.
Dudung also assessed that Rizieq’s communication style has not changed much since the past because it still uses narratives that, in his view, tend to attack other parties. He then alluded to the role of a cleric who should provide calm in the midst of society.
“If said to be a cleric, a cleric is one who always calms, thinks clearly, whose eyes never belittle others, whose mouth does not badmouth others, whose heart does not harbour bad suspicions towards others,” Dudung stated.
On that occasion, Dudung also invited all parties to stop mutual suspicion and slander amid global conditions that, in his view, are pressuring the national economy, politics, and law.
He emphasised that the current government is striving to maintain stability, so provocative issues are seen as potentially muddying the situation.
“No more enmity, no more mutual suspicion, mutual slander,” he said.
Dudung also described the accusations directed at people in the President’s circle, including Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, as unnecessary slander that should not be amplified. According to him, the public should not be influenced by narratives that he believes are only played by a handful of parties.
Dudung’s statement came after Habib Rizieq, in a sermon uploaded to YouTube, alluded to President Prabowo’s speech about parties wanting to “flee to Yemen”.
Rizieq suspected that the remark was influenced by the figure he called the ‘Billboard General’, a nickname that has long been directed at Dudung. Rizieq also linked back Dudung’s track record during the crackdown on FPI attributes and touched on several old issues, including KM 50.