Jokowi, Kalla are fine, says Luhut

JAKARTA. Responding to rumors of disharmony between President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, senior Golkar Party politician and senior Cabinet member Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that relations between the two were "definitely fine."

Speculation of tensions between the two has escalated following the revelation that Kalla, also a Golkar politician, had aided the nomination of former education minister Anies Baswedan, who later trumped non-active Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. 

Ahok was nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which is also Jokowi's party, and Golkar.  

"Many people ask me about what happened [between Jokowi and Kalla]. I can assure that Jokowi and Kalla are fine," Luhut said on Sunday. "As a Javanese, Jokowi was able to embrace people who are more senior than him."

Luhut was speaking in front of around 650 Golkar members and party executives during a rapimnas (national leadership meeting) in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Jokowi, he said, is a firm president. "I have met so many commanders, some of them are firm, some are not. But Jokowi is a firm one, he always stands by his decision and he never changes," Luhut said. (wit)