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Roundup: Indonesian president supported to address people's interests

Xinhua, January 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, has received supports from senior figures who advised him to address people's interests rather than accommodating demands of political parties supporting his government.

The president met with Prabowo Subianto, his arch rival in last year's presidential election, on Thursday when Prabowo conveyed his support to the government.

"We have the same notion to develop, advance and reduce poverty in the nation," Prabowo said at a joint press conference after his meeting with the president.

Also on Thursday, the president met with former president Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie in the presidential palace.

Habibie said that the president should take correct decision for the sake of people's interests.

"Because he was elected by people, not political parties. So, don't let them down," Habibie said.

On Wednesday, the president was advised to escape from pressures raised by supporters from his party. The advice came from Syafii Maarif, the head of a special team recently set up to address disputes between the country's anti-graft commission and police.

Syafii Maarif said that the president would regain people's support should he prioritize public interests in his policies.

The president from the PDI-P party who was sworn in last October sustained a sharp drop in public support in a fresh survey, which many saw is closely related with the disputes.

"Compared to results of survey data in August last year, people ' s hope and satisfaction to Jokowi has dropped by 25 percent, from 71.73 percent to 42.29 percent," said Adjie Alfaraby, a researcher from the Indonesian Survey Circle that carried out the survey from Jan. 26 to 27 in 33 provinces, involving 1,200 respondents.

The president's nomination earlier this month of Budi Gunawan,a close aide to former president Megawati Soekarnoputri who is also PDI-P chairperson, as national police chief was widely criticized as the three-star general had been named as a suspect by the country's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The KPK also said it will question Gunawan on Friday, for the first time since commission declared him a graft suspect on Jan. 13.

On Jan. 23, the national police arrested a KPK deputy chairman, accusing him of ordering a witness to commit perjury at the Constitutional Court in 2010.

Many suspected the arrest was a direct response to the KPK's move the name Gunawan a graft suspect and thus an attack against the nation's anti-corruption drive. Endi