T

he government reported on Friday that the country was calm following the Constitutional Court'€™s ruling on Thursday that upheld the election victory of president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€™ Widodo.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, who leads a team tasked with maintaining security during the election and the transition of power, made the announcement on Friday after a coordination meeting to assess the situation during and after the court-ruling announcement.

'€œIn general, the situation in the country is good, safe and normal despite a minor incident near the Horse Statue [Arjuna Wijaya monument] traffic circle [in Central Jakarta] on Thursday,'€ Djoko told a press conference after the meeting.

Several high-ranking officials were present at the briefing including National Police chief Gen. Sutarman, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko, National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi.

'€œWe all know that since the beginning of the election process, which covers the campaign period for the legislative election up until the presidential election dispute, there were no violent acts,'€ Djoko said. '€œIt shows that our people are smart and could think wisely throughout the election process.'€

Djoko also urged people to get back to their normal routines. '€œLet'€™s get over the disagreements, it is now the time to move on and to mend fences for a better future,'€ he said.

Following the calm situation on Thursday night, the police have now lowered the alert status nationwide from siaga satu, or the highest level of alert, to siaga dua.

The government said that it would monitor the situation and would return to normal status soon.

'€œOn Monday [next week] we will remove the alert status in neighboring areas [of Jakarta] such as West Java, Central Java and East Java; and those areas further away on Tuesday,'€ Sutarman said.

Djoko later apologized for the incident in Jakarta, which he described as being '€œwithin reasonable limits'€, saying police actions were a preventive measure that did not need to be blown out of proportion.

'€œIn that incident, if someone got hurt or felt inconvenienced, I apologize. If someone demands accountability, they can ask me,'€ he said.

Thursday'€™s protest turned ugly when more than 6,000 people attempted to force their way through barbed-wire barricades surrounding the court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta, near the Arjuna Wijaya monument.

The police fired water cannons and tear gas at the crowd after three Mercedes-Benz multi-purpose Unimog trucks attempted to ram the barricades at around 2 p.m.

More than 3,900 police and military personnel were able to prevent thousands of supporters of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto from entering the court complex. Sutarman said 46 people, including police officers, were injured in the incident.

Separately, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie shrugged off an allegation made by the Prabowo camp that the police used excessive force in dispersing the Prabowo supporters.

'€œAll measures were taken according to procedures. The police could never allow protesters to act violently, such as ramming barbed-wire barricades and injuring our officers,'€ he said.

Calm has also returned to other parts of the country after the announcement. Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Albertus Julius Benny Mokalu was quoted by Antara news agency as saying that the situation in Bali was safe and normal.