A group of Catholic school alumni declared on Sunday their support for presidential candidate pair Ganjar Pranowo and running mate Mahfud MD, who are running on the ticket of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the upcoming election.

The group, which calls itself Alumni SMA Top Gan, is comprised of alumni of Catholic high schools, such as Canisius College, Tarakanita and Santa Ursula. They declared their support for the candidate pair during an event in South Jakarta on Sunday.

In a discussion during the event, Jesuit priest Franz Magnis-Suseno raised his concerns about the precarious condition of human rights and democracy in Indonesia.

His worries began after the fatal shooting of civilians in Paniai, Papua in 2014, the German-born philosopher and Indonesian political expert was further alarmed by the policymakers’ move to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) through a law revision in 2019.

The recent Constitutional Court ruling that opened the way for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to compete in the upcoming presidential election was also among the events that raised Franz’s concerns. An ethics council later found that then Constitutional Court chief justice Anwar Usman, Jokowi’s brother-in-law, conducted a severe ethical violation.

“I see signs that not only the election is being influenced by the authorities, but also manipulated,” he said during the discussion.

“I think we’re in a dangerous situation. We should not elect someone who will almost certainly harm Indonesia,” Franz continued.

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