Gerindra Defends Gibran Over UBK Student's Claim of Receiving Money After Meeting Vice President

Secretary of the Gerindra Party faction in the Indonesian House of Representatives, Bambang Haryadi, has defended Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka regarding the confession of a Bung Karno University (UBK) student who received Rp20 million in connection with a protest held some time ago. The Chairman of the Faculty of Law Student Executive Board, Muhammad Abdi Maludin, previously admitted to receiving Rp20 million related to the demonstration and a meeting with Gibran. During that protest, Abdi Maludin and his group were easily granted access to the Vice Presidential Palace and held discussions with Gibran there. However, Bambang believes the receipt of the money was not linked to Gibran. “We do not know about that matter. This is still a unilateral claim from the student friends, the BEM Chairman, right? The Chairman of the BEM at UBK’s Faculty of Law. So let the process unfold. But I am confident there is no connection whatsoever with Mas Gibran. I believe there may be other parties we are unaware of,” Bambang said at the Parliament complex in Jakarta on Wednesday. He stated that Gerindra always safeguards and supports the administration of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. Therefore, Bambang urged that no issues be allowed to divide Prabowo and Gibran. Prabowo himself is known as the founder and currently leads Gerindra as its General Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. “This is because they are a single entity. So do not let these issues become an attempt to divide and create cracks or a chasm between the President and Vice President, because in principle, as far as we can see, the relationship between the President and Vice President remains very, very good and they support each other,” he said. UBK previously suspended the Chairman of the Faculty of Law Student Executive Board, Muhammad Abdi Maludin, in connection with his admission of receiving Rp20 million related to the demonstration and meeting with Gibran. “Today, in accordance with the Rector’s statement, we have suspended the individual concerned,” said UBK Vice Rector III Daniel Panda during a press conference at the UBK campus in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon. The suspension was imposed because UBK is undergoing an investigative process within the framework of enforcing its code of ethics. “Consequently, the individual can no longer represent himself as the BEM Chairman until this investigation is completed,” he added. Panda explained that Abdi had made a confession regarding the receipt of Rp20 million through an alumnus of UBK’s Faculty of Law. The source of the money was said to be from the police. To date, there has been no official statement from the police institution regarding this claim. “In this case, we have summoned the Chairman of the Faculty of Law BEM, Mr Abdi. He has made an official confession to the university that he received Rp20 million through a senior alumnus of UBK’s Faculty of Law, which was handed over by a police officer,” Panda said.