A

fter taking down provocative banners relating to the runoff round of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, police are now looking into the intentions and instigators of an online movement.

The Jakarta Police have warned about an application available on Playstore called Tamasya Al-Maidah (Al-Maidah Tour), inviting Muslims from all across Indonesia to flood into polling stations to guard them on polling day, April 19.

Deputy Jakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Suntana said that protecting polling stations was the police’s job. However, he said, they would allow citizens to participate in safeguarding the election as long as they did not attempt to intimidate voters.

“If they attempt to threaten voters in any way, we will stop them,” Suntana said, adding that the police were still investigating the application and the movement behind it.

The application appears to have been produced by a movement calling itself Gema Jakarta, which is reportedly linked to the National Movement to Save the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Edict (GNPF MUI).

The GNPF MUI was the movement behind the mass protest rallies on Nov. 4, Dec. 2 last year, and on Feb. 12, pushing for the prosecution and incarceration of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy and calling on Muslims not to vote for non-Muslim leaders in regional elections.

“The purpose of this voluntary movement is to closely monitor polling stations to ensure no cheating occurs during the upcoming election,” said Gimy Usman, one of the program committee members, who claimed that the movement was “independent and not affiliated with the GNPF MUI.”

The Tamasya Al-Maidah application is named after a verse in the Quran that is often used by conservative Muslim groups to urge Muslims only to vote for candidates of the same faith as themselves.

The program calls on registered volunteers to select the polling station they wish to guard on election day. In the memes circulating on social media, male volunteers are required to wear a white shirt and black songkok [traditional hat], while their female counterparts are required to wear gamis [traditional dress] and dark-colored veils to stand out from the crowd of voters.

The movement is also conducting offline registration for volunteers apart from receiving online applications.

Media reports have suggested that the movement has opened a booth to distribute forms to people who want to join the program.

Meanwhile, Setara Institute deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos, said such a program could be regarded as intimidation of voters who are willing to vote for Ahok in the election.

“When they show up in the polling stations with certain symbols and appearances, they could frighten people into changing their decision in the voting booth,” Bonar said, adding that such practices related to the election had been combined with sermons and banners.

Bonar said that authorities should take action to prevent any intimidation during the election. He said that such movements could become criminal “if they have any intention or motive to intimidate voters.”

Previously, several mosques in the city had put up banners emblazoned with messages calling on Muslims not to perform funeral prayers for deceased Muslims found to have supported Ahok, who is a Christian of Chinese descent. The city administration, assisted by police officers, has removed hundreds of such banners from public areas across the capital.(kkk)