Andi Arief is a ‘victim’ of Jokowi’s failure to curb Indonesia’s drug problems: Gerindra deputy chair

The shockwaves from yesterday’s scandalous news that Jakarta Police had arrested outspoken Democratic Party Deputy Secretary General Andi Arief on suspicion of drug use are still reverberating, with one of his fellow opposition politicians trying to turn the controversy around by placing the blame for Andi’s alleged drug problems onto President Joko Widodo and his administration.

Arief Poyuono, the deputy chairman of the Gerindra Party (whose chairman is presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto) told the media that Andi, who police say tested positive for crystal methamphetamine use yesterday, was just a “victim” of the current administration’s shortcomings.

“Andi Arief is only a victim of the failure of the government of Joko Widodo to eradicate drugs in Indonesia,” Poyuono told reporters on Monday as quoted by Detik.

Poyuono, who said that Andi should be sent to rehabilitation, argued that drug trafficking had increased during Jokowi’s tenure. He also asked that Andi’s arrest not be politicized and used as an issue against Prabowo in the election.

Ace Hasan Syadzily, a spokesperson for the Jokowi’s campaign, responded to Poyuono’s statements by asking if he was “delirious” for trying to somehow blame Andi’s drug arrest on the president.

Ace argued that the arrest of the senior Democratic Party official showed Jokowi’s administration was indiscriminate in cracking down on drugs. He also asked how Prabowo’s camp planned to eradicate drugs when senior members of their own team were getting arrested for taking them.

According to data from Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency (BNN), there are currently around six million drug users in Indonesia, a sharp rise from the 4.1 million users estimated in a 2014 survey.

Despite testing positive for methamphetamine use, police say they did not find any actual narcotics in the Jakarta hotel room where Andi was arrested on Sunday night. Police say they have only interrogated the senior Democratic Party official for now, but Andi could still potentially face other criminal charges such as possession of drug paraphernalia.