REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MALANG -- Democratic Party DPP General Chairman Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) admitted he never received an offer to fill the post of political, legal, and security coordinator minister (menko polhukam), which was vacant after Mahfud MD officially quit. Mahfud stepped down because he wanted to focus on the activities of vice presidential candidates (vice president).

The news that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) offered the chair of the Polhukam minister to AHY appeared because the two had a meal together in Yogyakarta City on Sunday (28/1/2024) in the morning of WIB. AHY confirmed that it has never communicated about joining President Jokowi's cabinet.

“There is no (offer to fill the position of minister of polhukam). Who is the offer from? I have no communication about that,” AHY told reporters at Gajayana Stadium, Malang City, East Java, on Thursday (1/2/2024).

Regarding Mahfud's resignation, AHY admitted that it respects the political choice of vice president number 3. AHY felt it was also necessary to respect the figures who are still serving as ministers to help President Jokowi.

“It (being a minister) is a glorious job. Not all have the opportunity for that. We hope that all of them can perform their duties well,” said the 2000 Adhi Makayasa Akmil winner.

Mahfud officially stepped down from the post of Minister of Polhukam on Wednesday (31/1/2024). He said that he would continue to hold that strategic position until President Jokowi published the presidential decree (Keppres) regarding his dismissal.

The Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Strategic Affairs (Indostrategic), Ahmad Khoirul Umam, predicts the Democratic Party will enter into Jokowi's post-election Mahfud government. The signal, according to him, was seen when a few days before Mahfud stepped down, there was a meeting between Jokowi and AHY in Yogyakarta.

“With this calculation, President Jokowi's meeting with Ketum PD Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) in Yogyakarta a few days ago, could be a signal for Jokowi to roll out the blue carpet for AHY's entry into the ministerial position in the current Jokowi government,” Umam said in Jakarta on Wednesday (31/1/2024).

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