Jakarta – The 828th Kamisan action on Thursday August 22 this afternoon thundered. A sea of protesters consisting of activists, academics, students and human rights defenders were present in front of the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta.
Attending the rally in all-black clothing, they articulated the various problems that have occurred under the regime of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. One of those present was the son of the Indonesia's proclamator Muhammad Hatta, Halida Hatta. Also attending were human rights activists Sumarsih and Usman Hamid.
A number of the Kamisan participants brought posters that read, "Democracy is already dead", "Enough already sir, we're already fed up #TolakPolitikdinasti [#RejectPoliticalDynisties]" and "Resist the elite highjackers of the Constitution".
Hamid, who is also the executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, gave a speech at the rally detailing Widodo's "seven big sins".
The first sin is the repression of the public through various laws, such as the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Cipta Kerja) and the new Criminal Code (KUHP).
The second sin is that the government stifles regional autonomy. Hamid believes that regional autonomy is a legacy of reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998 – which is now being trimmed down by Widodo.
"The Pemda [regional governments] have taken over regional autonomy to make their own decisions in the interest of the oligarchy", said Hamid.
The third sin, continued Hamid, is the government has weakened the opposition in parliament. Fourth, it has weakened the role of the mass media. Fifth, it has stunted the credibility of law enforcement.
"The sixth sin is to create disunity in society. Starting with the issue of radicalism to extremism. The seventh sin, is Jokowi's government has damaged the integrity of the election", said Hamid.
"Don’t stay silent, resist Jokowi", he added.
At the same time as the Kamisan action, students and civil society organisations also held a massive action in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta. They were opposing revisions to the regional elections law (Pilkada) which are contrary to a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court.
Kamisan actions have been held every Thursday by the families of victims of gross human rights violations and sympathizers opposite the Presidential Palace since January 18, 2007.
They continue to voice demands that the state resolve cases of gross human rights violations such as the Semanggi I and II student shootings in 1998 and the abduction of pro-democracy activists towards the end of the New Order regime of former president Suharto. (rzr/tsa)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Kamisan Bergemuruh di Depan Istana, Ungkit 7 Dosa Besar Jokowi".]
