Objectives of Jusuf Kalla Inviting Figures from the Malino I and II Agreements
Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) invited several figures from the Malino I and Malino II Agreements to the JS Luwansa Hotel in South Jakarta on Tuesday, 21 April 2026. JK wished to provide clarification regarding the content of his lecture at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Mosque some time ago.
“I invited the gentlemen and friends from Ambon and Poso to give us all understanding,” said the senior Golkar Party politician during his opening remarks.
On 5 March 2026, Jusuf Kalla touched on the Poso and Ambon conflicts during his lecture at the UGM Mosque. JK’s lecture resulted in a police report filed by the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (GAMKI). GAMKI accused JK of blaspheming Christian teachings. They took issue with the phrase ‘syahid’.
JK stated that his remarks had been used as a tool for slander and division. In reality, he intended to explain the path to peace.
JK explained that the content of the lecture addressed the international situation. Conflicts had emerged between Iran and the United States with Israel, as well as between Russia and Ukraine. In Indonesia, he said, there were 15 major conflicts.
He then referred to the Maluku and Poso conflicts. According to him, one of the triggering factors in those conflicts was religious issues.
“Why? Because suddenly they feel that if they fight and die, they enter paradise,” he said. “But not the entirety, not the entirety (of the events),” he added.
JK felt that some figures understood his statement. However, he was concerned about the impact of his remarks. Therefore, he invited several figures from the Malino I and Malino II Agreements. “To provide understanding,” he said.
The meeting between JK and several Malino figures was then held in closed session. As of the publication of this news, the meeting was still ongoing.
Previously, the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (DPP GAMKI) and several other organisations reported the former vice president, Jusuf Kalla, to the Metro Jaya Regional Police over his lecture at the Gadjah Mada University Mosque in March 2026. Their reports were registered under numbers LP/B/2547/IV/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, LP/B/2546/IV/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, and LP/B/2550/2026/SPKT/POLDA METRO JAYA, dated 12 April 2026.
GAMKI General Chairman Sahat Martin assessed that JK’s statements in that forum had caused polemic and unrest. “We reported it to the Metro Jaya Regional Police so that these statements, which have already caused uproar in society and on social media, can be directed and then resolved legally,” he stated in a written release on Monday, 13 April 2026.
General Chairman of the Central Board of Catholic Youth Stefanus Asat Gusma viewed the sentences uttered by JK in that forum as inconsistent with Christian and Catholic teachings. His side took issue with the phrase ‘syahid’ that JK mentioned regarding conflicts touching on religion, including in Poso and Ambon.
According to Stefanus, his religious teachings do not recognise violence or the murder of fellow humans. “Our hope, as national figures, is that Mr JK will respond to this well, at the very least by issuing an open statement, apologising, and clarifying everything,” he said.
JK denied this. He said the content of his lecture at the Gadjah Mada University Mosque in March 2026 about the Poso and Ambon conflicts was not intended to offend Muslims or Christians.
“It was only one or two minutes that I spoke about conflicts due to religion, including Ambon-Poso. I did not discuss dogma,” he said at his residence in South Jakarta on Saturday, 18 April 2026.
JK stated that in the lecture, he did not intend to corner any religion. According to him, both Islam and Christianity equally do not teach violence. However, in the context of the Poso and Ambon conflicts, the parties mutually used religious legitimacy to justify violence. “No religious teaching justifies killing one another; that is what I conveyed,” he said.
Furthermore, JK said the use of the term syahid in his lecture at that time was intended to suit the audience in the mosque. He compared it to the term martyr in Christian teachings. Both terms, according to him, have the same meaning, namely dying in defence of religion.
JK stated that his statements in the lecture were intended to remind that religion should not be used as a tool for conflict. He described the brutality of the violence that occurred in Poso and Ambon at that time. “There were 7,000 people who died in three years, as a result of conflicts that invoked religion,” he said.