JAKARTA (Reuters) - A longtime ally of Indonesian President Joko Widodo has launched a staunch defence of the popular leader amid a storm of criticism, rejecting allegations of his political interference to try to sway the outcome of next week's presidential election.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, senior minister and Widodo loyalist Luhut Pandjaitan confirmed the president, better known as Jokowi, was backing frontrunner and former rival Prabowo Subianto as the candidate most likely to continue his agenda after a decade in power.
Jokowi, who cannot seek re-election and has not explicitly backed a candidate, has faced mounting allegations of ethical breaches and meddling ahead of the Feb. 14 polls, including in a court's last-minute decision to change election rules, which allowed his son to become Prabowo's running mate. Jokowi has rejected that.
Luhut said there was nothing wrong with the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which was then headed by Jokowi's brother-in-law, who remains on the bench.
The judge was reprimanded by an ethics panel for intentionally allowing "intervention from an external party", which it did not name.
"Do you think its possible for the president to influence these nine justices? If so, there must be something wrong with the appointment process," Luhut told CNN Indonesia.
CONTINUITY CANDIDATE
Asked why Jokowi supported Prabowo, Luhut said the president believed he was the candidate to advance his economic policies, such as creating downstream industries to process natural resources following its successful implementation on nickel.
"This continuity demonstrates Jokowi's love for this republic. The current programmes are the forces that will improve the Indonesian economy," Luhut said.
Another administration might stall progress made in the resource-rich nation to boost incomes, he said, adding only Prabowo had shown strong support for Jokowi's downstreaming policy.
While rival Anies Baswedan has criticised the rapid expansion of nickel processing, all three candidates have said they would continue developing resource processing industries.
"It has nothing to do with his son being on the ticket," he said of Jokowi backing Prabowo.
"It's reasonable for someone to want his child to be vice president."
Some analysts say Jokowi's support for Prabowo and his son as his running mate is a calculated manoeuvre to protect his legacy and maintain his political clout after he makes way this year.
Luhut praised Prabowo, who was accused of - but denies - committing human rights violations in the 1990s while special forces commander. Luhut said people should not be fixated on Prabowo's past.
"He has proven himself. I never doubted his sense of nationalism, I never doubted his consistency and I never doubted his love for this republic," Luhut said.
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Martin Petty)
