TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Don't go to Jakarta rally, regional administrations tell residents
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Duty calls: Members of the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) pray at the National Monument in Jakarta on Wednesday, ahead of their deployment to secure a planned rally on Friday. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
Some local administrations have called on residents not to flock to Jakarta for a mass rally on Friday.
The East Kalimantan administration, for example, told residents via a circular to not fly to the capital to take part in the rally, which aims to pressure the police into prosecuting Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama over alleged blasphemy.
"Based on Law No. 23/2014 on regional administrations, a regional head has the duty to maintain security and order among his communities," East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said in the circular.
"To keep order [in our] region, [we] inform members of society and civil society organizations to not fly to Jakarta to join the rally."
Voicing similar concerns, the West Java administration has told civil servants to go to work as normal and not head to the capital.
West Java administration secretary Iwa Karniwa expected residents to trust the police to follow up on the blasphemy allegations, saying the case was being handled by the National Police. (dmr)
