Tension from deadly postelection riots in Central Jakarta failed to subside as of Wednesday night, even after losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto attempted to calm down his supporters and incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo vowed to take stern action against rioters earlier in the day.

Protesters began to throw firecrackers at police personnel guarding the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) building on Jl. MH Thamrin on Wednesday evening after a brief lull during dawn prayers.

Deadly riots broke out in Jakarta shortly after supporters of Prabowo took to the streets on Tuesday to protest the results of the April 17 election, which they claimed were plagued with fraud.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said six people had been killed during the worst riots to hit the capital city since 1998, when a student rally demanding the ouster of then-president Soeharto led to a riot that killed thousands.

“Six people have died so far; two at Tarakan Hospital and [the others] at the hospitals Pelni, Budi Kemulyaan, Cipto Mangunkusumo and RSAL Mintoharjo,” Anies said.

The National Police confirmed the deaths and said they were investigating the incidents.

“This has to be clarified. We don’t want [people] to speculate, as there is an attempt to provoke people by blaming the security apparatus and inciting public anger,” National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said.

The campaign team of Prabowo and running mate Sandiaga Uno has denied responsibility for the riots.

“Instigators started the violence. Prabowo called for a peaceful rally from the beginning,” campaign spokesman Dahnil Anzar Simandjuntak said when arriving at Prabowo’s private residence on Jl. Kertanegara in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We call on all parties to stay calm,” he said. “The police should not use weapons and should not arrest the protesters. The public should not be easily provoked.”

The President has said that the government would not tolerate any disruptions to the country’s security and democracy.

Jokowi, who had declared his reelection victory after beating Prabowo by a margin of 11 percentage points, added that his administration would not give in to the rioters and authorities would take stern actions against those who violated the law.

“I am open to anyone who wants to join hands to build and develop this country together, but I will not tolerate those who disrupt security, the process of democracy and the unity of our beloved country,” Jokowi said at the State Palace in Jakarta. “There is no other option. The military and the police will carry out stern actions in accordance with the law.”

The President, who was accompanied by Vice President Jusuf Kalla and top security officials, said that any objection related to the election should be settled through the Constitutional Court, which would assess all petitions and settle the disputes based on verified facts.

The Jakarta Police have subsequently arrested and identified 257 suspected rioters involved in rallies in different locations in Central Jakarta.

The National Police believe the riots were orchestrated and said many of the arrested “provocateurs” came from outside Jakarta.

“We have detained 58 people suspected of being provocateurs of the riot,” Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. M. Iqbal said at a separate press conference at the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister in Central Jakarta.

“There are indications that most of the rioters were from outside Jakarta and that they had been paid [to cause unrest].”

He said the initial protesters outside the Bawaslu headquarters were peaceful and had cooperated with police.

“The protest coordinator asked for permission to break the fast together and perform tarawih [evening Ramadan prayers], which we allowed, even though the law states that protests should end by 6:30 p.m.”

He added that police had asked the crowd to disperse at 9 p.m, which it did without incident.

“But then at around 11 p.m., another crowd of unknown origin arrived and started to damage the security barriers [in front of the Bawaslu headquarters].”

Police then drove the crowd, which had started to throw projectiles such as rocks and Molotov cocktails at the security forces, back toward Tanah Abang.

After police officers had mostly subdued the crowd, another separate group of protestors appeared and started attacking the National Police’s Mobile Brigade dormitories in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, setting the building on fire.

“We found an ambulance with a political party logo that was filled with rocks and other tools,” Iqbal said, declining to name the party. “We also confiscated envelopes full of money.”

A series of postelection protests also took place in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, with an unidentified group setting fire to a police post on Wednesday.

According to police, there were indications that local terror cells linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement had planned to launch an attack during the election protest rally.

Security analyst Sidney Jones from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict said IS supporters in Indonesia were “undoubtedly following events closely and they have always looked for conflict or chaos to exploit.

“But the [pro-IS groups] — not only JAD — have been weakened by arrests, and it’s not easy to plan an attack in response to rapidly unfolding events. Densus 88 is also on high alert and they’ve got a good team monitoring extremist messaging,” she explained, referring to homegrown terror group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah.

Jones added that the most important thing now was to not let the Islamist groups control the news cycle.

“It’s important for the police not just to deny the rumors but to present a detailed account from their sources of what actually happened.”

— Kharishar Kahfi and Ghina Ghaliya contributed to this story

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