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Light rain expected during anti-Ahok rally
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Early risers: Hundreds of people stand in line at Bogor Station in West Java on Friday to wait for commuter trains that will take them to Jakarta, where they plan to join a rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. (JP/Dandy Koswaraputra)
T
he Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast light rain in downtown Jakarta on Friday, when thousands will converge on the National Monument (Monas) square to join a politically charged Friday prayer meeting.
The rally aims to push for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama in a blasphemy case.
On its website, the BMKG predicted low-intensity rainfall in Central Jakarta throughout the day, before turning into cloudy weather in the evening.
As many as 200,000 demonstrators are expected to gather around Monas for the event, which is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This will be a follow-up of another large-scale anti-Ahok rally on Nov. 4, when protesters, mostly from Muslim groups, swarmed onto Jakarta streets to demand Ahok's prosecution.
Last month, the National Police named Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent, a suspect of blasphemy over a comment he had made on a Quranic verse during a visit to Thousand Islands regency in late September. (hwa)
