Samsudhuha Wildansyah, Jakarta – Presidential candidate incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo personally attended an event on March 10 to hear a declaration of support from the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR).

Widodo said that the FBR’s support will bring new energy to him and vice presidential running mate Ma’ruf Amin in the 2019 presidential election (pilpres).

“Thank you very much for joining with us. This will add a great deal of energy, a huge additional energy for Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin in the pilpres 2019”, said Widodo in his greetings at the Puri Mansion field in West Jakarta on Sunday.

Widodo asked the FBR to socialise his election bid in every urban kampung (residential area) and for the FBR to actively combat fake news.

“I want to again covey that with the FBR joining us we can together fight slander, hoaxes, false news reports, because this is dangerous for our [social] harmony, very dangerous for our unity among Muslim communities if ignored”, explained Widodo.

FBR general chairperson Lutfi Hakim took the opportunity to declare that the FBR is ready to bring victory to the Widodo-Amin presidential ticket.

“We are ready to support and bring victory to the presidential and vice presidential candidate ticket number 01, Bapak [Mr] Jokowi and KH Ma’ruf Amin and we are also ready to combat fake news and false news reports so that the pilpres runs in an orderly manner. Once again I ask, are you read to bring victory to number 01? Ready”, said Hakim.

Hakim asserted that the FBR is ready to make the 2019 presidential elections a success and that the FBR is also ready to eliminate hoax news about the Widodo-Amin ticket.

“We’re ready to combat hoaxes, false news reports, so that the pilpres runs in an orderly manner. We are ready to ensure a successful pemilu [election], pileg [legislative election] and pilpres which is safe and peaceful for the future of our nation and for the sake of NKRI [the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia] and the great nation of Indonesia”, said Hakim.

Notes

While the FBR claims to represent the interests of the Orang Betawi – Jakarta’s original inhabitants – since its establishment in 2002 the group is widely believed to have developed strong links to organised crime, particularly protection rackets and extortion. Much of its income is derived from managing lucrative parking lots acquired through intimidation and violence and the group frequently makes headlines over its involvement in sometimes fatal turf wars with non-native gangs. The group’s leaders maintain close ties to local politicians who rely on thuggery to manage their constituencies and are employed to terrorise local people into surrendering land for commercial development. The FBR often allies itself with other Islamic and ultra-nationalist vigilante groups in attacks on leftist and minority groups.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski. The second part of the article carried quotes from the FPR’s declaration of support for Widodo. The original title of the article was “Jokowi Sebut Dukungan FBR Energi Besar!”.]

Source: https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4461037/jokowi-sebut-dukungan-fbr-energi-besar