November 19, 2024
JAKARTA – The Presidential Communication Office (PCO) installed on Monday six new spokespersons, including Philips Vermonte, dean of social sciences at Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII), and notable political scientist Ujang Komaruddin.
PCO head Hasan Nasbi led the swearing-in ceremony, emphasizing their crucial role in communicating the policies of President Prabowo Subianto.
“I liken the PCO to an office of messengers. The messengers must be clear, because they could actually stop a war just by speaking the truth,” Hasan said in his opening remarks on Monday, as quoted by Tempo.co.
Philips, who earned a PhD in comparative politics from Northern Illinois University in the United States, is also a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Jakarta-based think tank, and chairman of the Indonesian Association for Public Opinion Surveys (Persepi).
Ujang is a professor of political science at Al-Azhar University Indonesia in South Jakarta, earning his political science doctorate from the University of Indonesia in 2013, and is executive director of Indonesia Political Review (IPR), which he founded in 2016.
The four other newly installed presidential spokespersons are Adita Irawati, Prita Laura, Dedek Prayudi and Hariqo Wibawa Satria.
Adita has worked in several public relations positions at state institutions and was appointed as a special staffer to former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2018, while Prita is a former journalist and TV presenter.
Dedek is a politician from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which is chaired by Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep and was part of the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) that backed Prabowo’s successful presidential bid in February. Hariqo is a former spokesperson of Prabowo’s campaign team.
Hasan also inducted several new special staffers and senior experts to the PCO.
The PCO is a relatively new government agency that has been serving as the official mouthpiece of President Prabowo for the past few months. The PCO supplants the role of an individual presidential spokesperson, and its chair ranks on a par with cabinet ministers.