One of the highest awards in Indonesia, Bintang Mahaputera. (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Absent, Gatot Nurmantyo still accepts Bintang Mahaputera

The retired Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, cancelled his attendance in the awarding ceremony of Bintang Mahaputera (Mahaputera Star) for 71 awardees by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), at the Merdeka Palace on Wednesday.

Gatot would be awarded for his service in 2015 - 2017. However, the head of the Presidential Secretariat, Budi Hartono, stated that Gatot already sent his absence letter to Jokowi. The Bintang Mahaputera will be sent to Gatot.

The Coordinating Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mohamad Mahfud MD, clarified that despite his absence, Gatot still accepted the Bintang Mahaputera award. Both Heru and Mahfud stated that one of the reasons for Gatot's absence was because of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemics. Heru added that the other reason was that Gatot wanted to take care of the TNI.

Not only Gatot but also the Bintang Mahaputera award was given to Susi Pudjiastuti (former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries), Retno Marsudi (Minister of Foreign Affairs), Puan Maharani (former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs), and Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs).

BINTANG MAHAPUTERA: BETWEEN GATOT AND KAMI

However, the award for Gatot became a controversy, following Gatot's strident criticism toward Jokowi's administration to forming the Safe Indonesia Coalition (KAMI) movement with Din Syamsuddin. However, Mahfud stated that it is usual for the President to award Bintang Mahaputera for TNI general and other high-ranked officials.

Speaking on Friday last week, one of the founders of KAMI, Marwan Batubara, accused the government of trying to "weaken" KAMI's motivation by giving the award suddenly. Marwan claimed that the majority of KAMI also supported Gatot's unwillingness to receive the prestigious award for his two-year service in TNI.

Source: https://bit.ly/2UgraW8