2019’s real winner: Stigma of human right victims

Soe Tjen Marching
Founder of Yayasan Bhinneka Nusantara foundation

PREMIUM

London / Wed, May 22, 2019 / 10:00 am

2019’s real winner: Stigma of human right victims

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo speaks on May 14 while launching the 2019-2024 Indonesian Sharia Economy Master Plan in Jakarta. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has announced that the incumbent, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, is the winner of this year’s election as predicted by a number of pollsters in their quick counts. History is repeating itself — or more precisely, his rival Prabowo Subianto is repeating himself: Just as he did after the quick count results were announced for the 2014 election, Prabowo has again declared victory this year, claiming electoral fraud and cheating. Strangely, in 2017, when the very same pollsters indicated that his party won the Jakarta gubernatorial election, Prabowo immediately declared victory without questioning the validity of the quick count. So it seems that the pollsters are only reliable when his party wins. His premature claim has created more tension between the two camps’ supporters. While Prabowo continues to urge his supp...