T

housands of people participated in an anti-Jokowi walk on Sunday morning in the Gladag area in the city of Surakarta, Central Java.

The event on Sunday was also attended by, among others, Surakarta Sharia Council (DSKS) chairman Muinudinillah Basri, Muhammadiyah activist Mustofa B. Nahrawardaya and local figure Mudrick Sangidu.

Earlier, the Surakarta Police said they did not permit the event because it had the potential to create altercations between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo supporters and those who oppose him. In response, the event committee said they would prohibit the participants from wearing or carrying any #2019GantiPresiden (#2019ChangePresident) attributes.

Although attributes emblazoned with #2019GantiPresiden were absent in the 5-kilometer walk, a call to support presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto resonated in the event.

“Hail Prabowo! I hope that he will become our president,” Mudrick told the participants. He also encouraged them to be volunteers to support Prabowo’s candidacy.

Hundreds of joint personnel from the police, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Muhammadiyah were seen securing the event held in Jokowi’s hometown and the city that propelled him into fame when he was the mayor.

The participants also came from neighboring cities like Sukoharjo, Boyolali, Klaten, Sragen, Karanganyar and Wonogiri.

Public figure Ahmad Dhani and Neno Warisman were previously set to attend the event but they canceled their participation.