Ummat Party Responds to Amien Rais's Statement
Ummat Party General Chairman Ridho Rahmadi has spoken out regarding Amien Rais’s statement on his YouTube channel about the closeness between Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.
Ridho invites anyone to pursue legal channels regarding Amien Rais’s controversial statement.
“If anyone feels harmed, they are welcome to take legal action as guaranteed in this country. We cannot restrict their right to exercise their rights.”
“But do not let the law be used as a selective political weapon according to the whims of those in power,” Ridho said, quoted from detik.
Ridho views Amien Rais’s statement as merely voicing concerns circulating in society. However, he said, Amien Rais conveyed it in his characteristically straightforward language.
“This is a form of his concern and love for the nation and Pak Prabowo as his longtime friend. We have all witnessed his critical track record and courage since the New Order era,” he stated.
Prabowo volunteers grouped under Arus Bawah Prabowo (ABP) have also affirmed they will take legal steps regarding Amien Rais’s statement. ABP considers the statement to have damaged the reputations of Prabowo and Teddy.
“Amien Rais’s remarks are a reckless personal attack on President Prabowo Subianto and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. This is no longer criticism, but rather baseless vile accusations forced to seem like truth. The statement is clearly hallucinatory and misleading to the public,” emphasised ABP Deputy Chairman Supriyanto in his statement on Saturday (2/5).
Response from the Minister of Communication and Digital
Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid considers Amien Rais’s statement as character assassination against President Prabowo and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.
“The Ministry of Communication and Digital has identified the spread of a video containing defamatory narratives, character assassination, and personal attacks directed at the President of Indonesia. The video was uploaded by the Chairman of the Ummat Party’s Shura Council [Amien Rais],” Meutya said in an official Instagram post from the Ministry on Saturday (2/5).
Meutya stated that Amien Rais’s remarks contain hate speech. She assessed that they have the potential to divide the nation.
“Komdigi affirms that the content of the video is hoaxes, slander, and contains hate speech. The narrative constructed is an effort to demean the dignity of the country’s highest leader, lacks factual basis, and is part of a provocation to create public unrest. This has the potential to divide the nation,” Meutya said.
“The digital democracy space is a space for debating ideas, not for producing hate content that attacks anyone’s dignity,” Meutya added.
The controversial video uploaded via the Amien Rais Official YouTube account has now disappeared.