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.
Jokowi lauds police on restricting anti-Jokowi declaration
The President says democracy has its limits.
Change Size
A group of people intercept a car carryring Neno Warisman, an anti-Jokowi activist, to prevent her from exiting Sultan Syarif Kasim Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Aug. 25. Neno was slated to attend a #2019GantiPresiden event. (Antara/Rony Muharrman)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he backed the police’s decision to restrict events of an anti-Jokowi movement known under its Twitter handle #2019GantiPresiden (Change the president in 2019) in several cities.
He said that, while Indonesia was a democratic country, there were some limitations to the freedom of expression.
“Yes, this country is a democratic country. Everyone has the right to assemble and have their own opinion, but remember that there are limitations to it and rules to follow, okay”, he told reporters after attending a NasDem Party event in Jakarta on Saturday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Jokowi lauded the police’s decision to dissolve the #2019GantiPresiden declaration to maintain public order, as the event was deemed to have the potential to spark riots between supporters and opponents of the incumbent.
Police officers dissolved events in several cities, including Pekanbaru in Riau and Surabaya in East Java, because of the risk of commotion.
On a similar note, NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh deemed the declaration to be “inappropriate to be expressed in public, because it could hurt the feelings of people with different political preferences.”
Regarding a verbal attack on Jokowi by presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto concerning the depreciating rupiah, Surya recommended that Jokowi simply respond to his critics with a smile.
“If the [opposition candidate] was the leader today, would the US dollar fall today? I’m not so sure,” he said in response to Prabowo’s comment about the rupiah falling in value to Rp 14,700 per US dollar recently. (ris)
